Greek legislative election, 1956

The Greek legislative election of the 19 February 1956 resulted in victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his National Radical Union party. It was the first general election in Greece in which women had the right to vote [Women first voted in a repeat vote for the 1952 election held in 1953 in the Thessaloniki Prefecture. The first woman MP was elected in that same election.] .

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.

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, which also comprised some prominent centrists (Evangelos Averoff, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Konstantinos Tsatsos) and went on to dominate the Greek political scene for the next 8 years.

The National Radical Union won thanks to a complex and controversial electoral system. In the rural constituencies the National Radical Union was expected to gain a plurality, while in the urban constituencies, the Liberal Democratic Union (Greece)|Liberal Democratic Union coalition party was expected to lead [ [http://www.eleftheria.gr/index.php?MDL=pages&page=article&SiteID=MTg5Ng=&all=1 Eleftheria Newspaper, 22 May 2007, article on the history of election laws (in Greek)] ] [ [http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=13110&m=A01&aa=1 "Το Βήμα" newspaper, 12 Nov 2000, "Δημοκρατία Διάτρητη" (In Greek)] ] . As a result, the Liberal Democratic Union (Greece)|Liberal Democratic Union coalition party lost the election.

The Liberal Democratic Union included, among others:
* Centrists led by Georgios Papandreou,
* The Liberal Party, led by Sophoklis Venizelos and
* The left-wing EDA, led by Ioannis Passalidis.

A few years later, Georgios Papandreou and Sophoklis Venizelos renounced their alliance with EDA, thus breaking up the Liberal Democratic Union .

Footnotes

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

Next Greek legislative election — Greek legislative election, 2012 2009 ← 2012 → 2016 … Wikipedia
Greek legislative election, 2004 — Legislative elections were held in Greece on March 7, 2004. At stake were 300 seats in the Greek Parliament, the Vouli (Greek: ). The New Democracy Party of Costas Karamanlis won a decisive victory in the elections, ending eleven years of rule by … Wikipedia
Greek military junta of 1967–1974 — Regime of the Colonels redirects here. For the generic usage as a term for military rule, see military junta. For the Polish regime of colonels, see Piłsudski s colonels. For other uses, see Colonels regime. History of Greece … Wikipedia
ancient Greek civilization — ▪ historical region, Eurasia Introduction the period following Mycenaean civilization, which ended in about 1200 BC, to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It was a period of political, philosophical, artistic, and scientific… … Universalium
Stefanos Sarafis — ( el. Στέφανος Σαράφης, 1890 31 May, 1957) was an officer of the Hellenic Army who played an important role during the Greek Resistance. Early life and career Sarafis was born at Trikala in 1890, and studied law in the University of Athens.… … Wikipedia
1996 — This article is about the year 1996. For the number (and other uses), see 1996 (number). Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1960s 1970s 1980s –… … Wikipedia
Kostas Karamanlis — This article is about the Prime Minister whose term began in 2004 and ended in 2009. For his uncle, a former Prime Minister and later President who lived from 1907 to 1998, see Konstantinos Karamanlis. Konstantinos Karamanlis Κωνσταντίνος… … Wikipedia
1993 — This article is about the year 1993. For the number (and other uses), see 1993 (number). Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1960s 1970s 1980s –… … Wikipedia
Konstantinos Karamanlis — This article is about the former Greek president who lived from 1907 to 1998. For his nephew, see Kostas Karamanlis. Konstantinos Karamanlis Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής … Wikipedia
October 1981 — January February March April May June July August September October November December The following events occurred in October 1981: Contents 1 October 1, 1981 (Thursday) 2 October 2, 1981 (Friday) 3 … Wikipedia

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Greek legislative election, 1956

Look at other dictionaries:

Share the article and excerpts

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Wikipedia

Greek legislative election, 1956

Look at other dictionaries:

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link