The National Progressive Center Union ( EPEK) was a Greek

Greece

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

 political party.

It was established in 1949 by General 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...

 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 establishment. Together with 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 George Papandreou it formed a coalition government in 1950, which fell, however, when his partners retired.

In the Greek legislative election, 1951

Greek legislative election, 1951

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 and Nikolaos Plastiras.-Background:...

 elections, EPEK emerged as the strongest of the centrist parties with 23,59% of the votes and 74 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....

. However the elections were won by the 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...

 under Alexander Papagos

Alexander Papagos

Field Marshal Alexander Papagos , was a Greek General who led the Greek Army in the Greco-Italian War and the later stages of the Greek Civil War and became the country's Prime Minister...

 which won 114.

Since no party or alliance had the absolute majority in the Parliament and Papagos refused to participate in a government of national unity, 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 formed a minority government under the leadership of Plastiras. Plastiras would stay in power from November 1, 1951 to October 11, 1952.

Plastiras submitted his resignation in order to seek re-election. King Paul I proclaimed the Greek legislative election, 1952

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....

. However this time the Greek Rally gained 49,22 and won control over 249 Parliamentary seats. Papagos formed a government and Plastiras was forced to retire in defeat. He would die on July 26, 1953 with his Party effectively dissolved.