Greek legislative election, 1956 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Greek legislative election of the 19 February 1956 resulted in victory for 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.-...

and his National Radical Union

National Radical Union

The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1955 by Konstantinos Karamanlis out of the Greek Rally party....

party by securing the electoral vote despite trailing in the popular vote. It was the first general election in Greece

Greece

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

in which women had the right to vote

Women's suffrage

Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...

.

In 1955, Karamanlis was chosen by the King Paul I as successor of prime minister General Alexandros Papagos, who had just died. The decision was controversial, as Karamanlis was not a leading member of Papagos' party, and caused the vehement reactions of the party's two most prominent members, Stefanos Stefanopoulos and Panagiotis Kanellopoulos

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos or Panayotis Kanellopoulos was a distinguished Greek politician and Prime Minister of Greece. He was the Prime Minister of Greece deposed by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974....

.

Nevertheless, Karamanlis, thanks to the support of the royal family and his own dextrous handlings, managed to establish himself as a strong leader. After stabilizing his leadership, he dissolved the Greek Rally party and created his own conservative right-wing party, the National Radical Union

National Radical Union

The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1955 by Konstantinos Karamanlis out of the Greek Rally party....

, which also comprised some prominent centrists (Evangelos Averoff

Evangelos Averoff

Evangelos Averoff-Tositsas was a distinguished right-wing Greek politician of Aromanian origin and author of several books on political and historical topics....

, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos

, Konstantinos Tsatsos

Konstantinos Tsatsos

Konstantinos Tsatsos was a revered Greek diplomat, professor of law, scholar and politician. He served as the second President of the Third Hellenic Republic from 1975 to 1980.- Life :...

) and went on to dominate the Greek political scene for the next 8 years.

The National Radical Union

National Radical Union

The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1955 by Konstantinos Karamanlis out of the Greek Rally party....

won thanks to a complex and controversial electoral system, enacted by Karamanlis. A "first past the post" system was applied in the rural constituencies where the National Radical Union

National Radical Union

The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1955 by Konstantinos Karamanlis out of the Greek Rally party....

was expected to gain a plurality, while proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

was reserved for the urban constituencies, where the Liberal Democratic Union coalition party

Liberal Democratic Union (Greece)

The Liberal Democratic Union was a coalition of six Greek political parties for the elections of 1956.Its main leader was Sofoklis Venizelos. Members to the coalition were:* Republican Union* Liberal Party * United Democratic Left...

was expected to lead. As a result, the Liberal Democratic Union coalition party

Liberal Democratic Union (Greece)

lost the election, in spite of getting a slim plurality of votes.

The Liberal Democratic Union

Liberal Democratic Union (Greece)

included, among others:

Centrists
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...

led by Georgios Papandreou,
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...

, led by 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
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:...

, led by Ioannis Passalidis.

A few years later, Georgios Papandreou and 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...

renounced their alliance with 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:...

, thus breaking up the Liberal Democratic Union .

rowspan=2 colspan=3 valign=top|Summary of the 19 February 1956 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....

election results
!colspan="3" cellpadding="10" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Votes
!colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Seats
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
!No.
!%
!align="center"|+− %
!align="center"|No.
!align="center"|+−
|-
|
||National Radical Union

National Radical Union

The National Radical Union was a Greek political party formed in 1955 by Konstantinos Karamanlis out of the Greek Rally party....

|Constantine Karamanlis

Constantine Karamanlis

Liberal Democratic Union (Greece)

|Georgios Papandreou
Sophoklis Venizelos

Sophoklis Venizelos

Ioannis Passalidis
|align="right"|1,620,007
|align="right"|48.15
|align="center"|
|align="center"|132
|align="center"|
|-
|
|Lists of Independents
|
|align="right"|31,022
|align="right"|0.92
|align="center"|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|
|-
|
|Progressive Party
|Spyros Markezinis
|align="right"|74,545
|align="right"|2.22
|align="center"|
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|
|-
|
|People's Social Party
|
|align="right"|29,375
|align="right"|0.88
|align="center"|
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|
|-
|
|Party of Christian Democracy
|
|align="right"|449
|align="right"|0.01
|align="center"|
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|
|Others
|
|align="right"|14,851
|align="right"|0.44
|align="center"|
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Totals
|align="right"|
|align="right"|100.00
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|300
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Constituencies
|align="right"|
|align="right"|41
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|300
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Valid votes
|align="right"|3,364,361
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Invalid votes
|align="right"|15,084
|align="left"|(0.44%)
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Total number of votes
|align="right"|3,379,445
|align="left"|(74,79%)
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Valid electorate
|align="right"|4,507,907
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan="3"|Population
|align="right"|7,395,219
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|align="center"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"|
|-
|colspan=3|Source: Texts of Constitutional History, vol. 2, p. 835.
|colspan=5|
|}

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