The Victory of the Center Union (EC) at national elections of November 3, 1963, overturned a situation since the November 1952 elections. After eleven years, during which the right -wing parties (Greek Alarm and National Radical Union), a party from the center of the Center emerged. dominant political force in Greece. EC of Georgiou Papandreou gathered a total of 42% of the votes by electing 138 MPs, as opposed to the EG Konstantinos Karamanliswhich received 39.3% of the votes by taking 132 seats in the new Parliament.
The outcome of the elections, however, did not leave much room for choice. Either the first two parties would form a cooperation government either the elections would be repeated. On November 6, King Paul assigned a government order to Papandreou and two days later the leader of the EC. announced his government. Papandreou’s first government measures included the regulation of agricultural debts, the introduction of free education and the liberation of many political prisoners.
Following the defeat of ERE, Konstantinos Karamanlis made the decision to leave Greece.
After the defeat of ERE in the elections, Konstantinos Karamanlis made the decision to leave Greece (December 9, 1963), designating Panagiotis Kanellopoulos as his successor to the party leadership. At the end of December, the Papandreou government resigned after first secured a vote of confidence by EC Members. and the single Democratic Left (ECN) and called for new elections to be held. It ruled to participate in any cooperation government with the support of the ECN. On December 31, Paul appointed I. Paraskevopoulos Prime Minister, who dismantled the House and announced new elections for February 16th.
In the elections of February 16, 1964, EC confirmed its sovereignty in the political scene, taking the 52.7% of votes and electing 171 Members. On the contrary, the ERE and the Progressive Party of Spyros Marquezini, who represented the right -wing site, together 35.2% of the votes by occupying the new House 99 and 8 parliamentary seats respectively. The increase in EC rates EPE was the most massive electoral conversion of the post -war years that occurred in such a short time.
With a wide electoral lead over the second party, EC. George Papandreou was free to implement her political program. Immediately after the formation of the new government on February 19, Papandreou was confronted with the management of the crisis in the Cypruswhich had an impact on Greece’s relations both with Turkey as with the US. At the same time, Constantine II, a young and inexperienced king, who collided with the elected prime minister in the summer of 1965, was at the height of the country, in the High State’s office, leading him to resign.
Column: Myrto Katsiera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poumenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
