The first free elections since 1964 and after the end of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974

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...

 took place in Greece

Greece

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

 on November 17, 1974 during the metapolitefsi

Metapolitefsi

The Metapolitefsi was a period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 that includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974 and the democratic period immediately after these elections.The long...

.

The winner was Konstantinos Karamanlis and his newly formed conservative party, ND

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...

 (New Democracy, Νέα Δημοκρατία). Karamanlis had already formed a government of national unity just after the fall of the dictatorship. The second biggest party was the centrist Center Union - New Forces

Center Union - New Forces

Centre Union – New Forces was the continuation of the Centre Union party of George Papandreou after the military junta...

 (Ένωσις Κέντρου-Νέες Δυνάμεις). Third power in the Parliament became the newly formed 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...

 (Panhellenic Sosialist Movement, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα), a radical socialist party led by Andreas Papandreou

Andreas Papandreou

Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...

, son of the former prime minister Georgios Papandreou.

rowspan=2 colspan=2 valign=top|Summary of the 17 November 1974 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....

 (Vouli ton Ellinon) election results
!colspan="2" cellpadding="8" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Votes
!colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Seats
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
!No.
!% 
!align="center"|No.
!align="center"|+−
|-
|New Democracy (ND)

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...

|Konstantinos Karamanlis
|align="right"|2,669,133
|align="right"|54.37
|align="center"|220
|align="center"|
|-
|Center Union-New Forces
|George Mavros
|align="right"|1,002,559
|align="right"|20.42
|align="center"|60
|align="center"|
|-
|Panhellenic Socialist Movement (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...

|Andreas Papandreou

Andreas Papandreou

Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...

|align="right"|666,413
|align="right"|13.58
|align="center"|12
|align="center"|
|-
|United Left (EDA, KKE, KKE Interior)

United Left (Greece)

The United Left was an electoral union formed between the Communist Party of Greece, Communist Party of Greece and the United Democratic Left to contest the 1974 Greek legislative election. The UL took 9.47% of the vote and won eight seats....

|Ilias Iliou

Ilias Iliou

Ilias Iliou was a Greek lawyer and politician, member of the Greek Parliament and leader of the United Democratic Left . He was also a distinguished writer and jurist.- Early years :...

|align="right"|464,787
|align="right"|9.47
|align="center"|8
|align="center"|
|-
|National Democratic Union
|Petros Garoufalias
|align="right"|52,768
|align="right"|1.08
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Democratic Center Union
|Ioannis Zigdis
|align="right"|8,509
|align="right"|0.17
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Revolutionary Communist Party of Greece (EKKE)
|
|align="right"|1,539
|align="right"|0.03
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|Liberal Democratic Union-Socialist Party
|
|align="right"|975
|align="right"|0.02
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|
|-
|Others
|
|align="right"|42,291
|align="right"|0.86
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|
|-
|colspan="2"|No. of valid votes
|align="right"|
|align="center" bgcolor="white"| 
|align="center"|300
|align="center" bgcolor="white"| 
|-
|colspan="2"|Invalid votes
|align="right"|
|colspan="4" rowspan="2" bgcolor="white"| 
|-
|colspan="2"|Total
|align="right"|

|-
|}

Post-election

The priorities of the Karamanlis' government were:

• The adoption of a new Constitution
• The abolition of Monarchy after a free referendum
• The submission of a new application for Greece's accession to the European Community.

In 1975 Konstantinos Tsatsos, a close friend of Karamanlis, was elected President of the Republic by the Greek Parliament.