Greek legislative election, 1951 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Greek legislative election of the 9 September 1951 resulted in an ambivalent outcome, consisting a narrow and pyrrhic, as proven later, victory for the ruling center-liberal parties of Sophoklis Venizelos

Sophoklis Venizelos

Sofoklis Venizelos was a prominent Greek politician who three times served as Prime Minister of Greece .He was born in Chania. The second-born son of Eleftherios Venizelos, Sofoklis served with distinction in the Greek Army during the First World War and the initial phases of the Asia Minor...

and Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras was a Greek general and politician, who served thrice as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier and known for his personal bravery, he was known as "O Mavros Kavalaris" during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922...

Background

After the Greek elections of 1950

Greek legislative election, 1950

The 1950 Greek legislative election was held on 5 March 1950.A total of 44 parties contested 250 seats. rowspan=2 colspan=3 valign=top|Summary of the 5 March 1950 Greek Parliament election results...

, when the divided centrist parties had a clear majority in the 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....

political instability was the main characteristic of the political life in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. The subsequent centre-liberal governments of Sophoklis Venizelos

Sophoklis Venizelos

, Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras

and Georgios Papandreou did not manage to ensure and enforce stability. As a result, Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras

supported a People's Party

People's Party (Greece)

The People's Party of Greece was a conservative and pro-monarchist political party founded by Dimitrios Gounaris, the main political rival of Eleftherios Venizelos and his Liberal Party. The party existed from 1920 until 1958....

government, under the term that the latter would cinduct soon elections.

Outcome

First party in the elections of 1951 was the just-founded Greek Rally

Greek Rally

Greek Rally , Ellinikos Synagermos ) was a Greek political party founded on 6 August 1951 by former general Alexandros Papagos. The party encompassed a broad spectrum of the royalist conservative right in Greek society and was modeled on the Charles de Gaulle's Rassemblement du Peuple Français...

of Alexandros Papagos, which swept the traditionally dominant right-wing People's Party

People's Party (Greece)

. Nevertheless, the two major centrist-liberal parties, the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (Greece)

The Liberal Party was one of the major Greek political parties of the early 20th century.- History :Founded as the Xipoliton party in Crete , its early leaders were Kostis Mitsotakis and Eleftherios Venizelos...

and the National Progressive Center Union

National Progressive Center Union

The National Progressive Center Union was a Greek political party.It was established in 1949 by General Nikolaos Plastiras and attracted a following of disappointed Liberals and left-leaning democrats. It preached a message of national conciliation, which put it in conflict with the rightist...

, elected more deputies than the conservatives.

The left-wing EDA

United Democratic Left

The United Democratic Left was a political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.-Foundation:...

, a party believed to have been affiliated with the outlaw during 1950-1974 Communist Party of Greece

Communist Party of Greece

Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...

, made its first appearance in these elections.

rowspan=2 colspan=2 valign=top|Summary of the 9 September 1951 Greek 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....

Greek Rally

National Progressive Center Union

|Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras

Liberal Party (Greece)

|Sophoklis Venizelos

Sophoklis Venizelos

United Democratic Left

The United Democratic Left was a political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.-Foundation:...

|Ioannis Passalidis
|align="right"|
|align="right"|10.57
|align="center"|
|align="center"|10
|align="center"|
|-
||People's Party

People's Party (Greece)

|Konstantinos Tsaldaris

Konstantinos Tsaldaris

Konstantinos Tsaldaris was a Greek politician and twice Prime Minister of Greece.Tsaldaris was born in Alexandria, Egypt. He studied law at the University of Athens as well as Berlin, London and Florence...

|align="right"|
|align="right"|6.66
|align="center"|
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|
|-
|Democratic Socialist Party
|Georgios Papandreou
|align="right"|
|align="right"|2.10
|align="center"|
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Rally of Farmers and Workers
|
|align="right"|
|align="right"|1.23
|align="center"|
|align="center"|1
|align="center"|
|-
|Socialist Party (ΕLD)
|
|align="right"|
|align="right"|0.23
|align="center"|
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Socialists-Marxists
|
|align="right"|
|align="right"|0.00
|align="center"|
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Lists of Independents
|
|align="right"|
|align="right"|0.09
|align="center"|
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Others
|
|align="right"|
|align="right"|0.06
|align="center"|
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Totals
|align="right"|
|align="right"|100.00
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Constituencies
|align="right"|
|align="right"|41
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|258(250+8)
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Valid votes
|align="right"|1,708,904
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Invalid votes
|align="right"|8,108
|align="left"|(0.47%)
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Total number of votes
|align="right"|1,717,012
|align="left"|(77,11%)
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Valid electorate
|align="right"|2,224,246
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Population
|align="right"|7,395,219
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan=7|Sources: Texts of Constitutional History, vol. 2, p. 835.
Encyclopedia Dictionary "The Sun", Volume 15, Article: Nikolaos Plastiras
|}

Post-election

Since no party or alliance had the absolute majority in the 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....

and Alexandros Papagos refused to participate in a government of national unity, the Liberal Party

Liberal Party (Greece)

and the National Progressive Center Union

National Progressive Center Union

formed a minority government under the leadership of Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras

, which lasted for about a year, since 1952, when Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras

submitted his resignation and new legislative elections

Greek legislative election, 1952

The Greek legislative election of 16 November 1952 resulted in victory for General Alexander Papagos and the party he had founded the previous year, the Greek Rally party....

were proclaimed by the King Paul I.

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