Centre Union – New Forces (EK-ND, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

: Ένωσις Κέντρου-Νέες Δυνάμεις (Ε.Κ. – Ν.Δ.), Enosi Kentrou-Nees Dynameis) was the continuation of the Centre Union party of George Papandreou

George Papandreou (senior)

Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece...

 after the military junta

Greek military junta of 1967-1974

The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...

. It was the merger of a Centre Union fraction led by Georgios Mavros

Georgios Mavros

Georgios Mavros was a Greek jurist and politician. He served in several ministerial posts, and was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the 1974 national unity government following the restoration of democracy.He taught Law at the University of Athens from 1937 to 1942, and...

 and the Movement of New Political Forces (KNPD).

In the elections of 1974

Greek legislative election, 1974

The first free elections since 1964 and after the end of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 took place in Greece on November 17, 1974 during the metapolitefsi....

, the party became the second largest of the country, after New Democracy

New Democracy (Greece)

New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...

. It obtained about 20% of the vote and 60 seats in the Hellenic Parliament

Hellenic Parliament

The Hellenic Parliament , also the Parliament of the Hellenes, is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House , overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece....

. On February 5, 1976, the Centre Union – New Forces merged into the Union of the Democratic Centre led by veteran centrist politician George Zigdis.

Their program for the elections of 1974 did not differ from that of New Democracy; it included slogans concerning "participatory democracy", "checks imposed on capital (Greek or foreign) by the people", "Greek social democracy", and so on. With the death of the old centrist leader George Papandreou

George Papandreou (senior)

Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece...

 in 1968, who achieved massive support for his centre party Center Union

Center Union

The Centre Union was a Greek political party, created in 1961 by George Papandreou, senior.The party was elected to power in 1963, with Papandreou as Prime Minister...

 before the coup

Greek military junta of 1967-1974

The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...

, and the creation by Andreas Papandreou of socialist PASOK

Panhellenic Socialist Movement

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...

, the old center had lost its appeal to both new and old voters. Also, the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1974, through a referendum proclaimed by Constantine Karamanlis

Constantine Karamanlis

Konstantínos G. Karamanlís , commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or Caramanlis, was a four-time Prime Minister, the 3rd and 5th President of the Third Hellenic Republic and a towering figure of Greek politics whose political career spanned much of the latter half of the 20th century.-...

, deprived the anti-royalist center parties of a popular cause and an issue which had defined their identity.