1958 Greek parliamentary election

none Kingdom of Greece state parliamentary 1956 Greek parliamentary election 1956 1961 Greek parliamentary election 1961 All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament 151 11 May 1958 130x130px Konstantinos Karamanlis 1960.jpg Konstantinos Karamanlis National Radical Union 171 1,583,885 41.16% Pashalidis Iv.jpg Ioannis Passalidis United Democratic Left 79 939,902 24.43% Papandreu-generel-state-archives.jpg Georgios Papandreou Liberal Party (Greece) 36 795,445 20.67% Alexandros Baltatzis Progressive Agricultural Democratic Union 10 408,787 10.62% 80-G-702560 cropped tsaldaris.png Konstantinos Tsaldaris Union of Populars 4 408,787 2.95% Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Konstantinos Karamanlis National Radical Union Konstantinos Karamanlis National Radical Union Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 11 May 1958.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p830 978-3-8329-5609-7 The result was a second consecutive victory for Konstantinos Karamanlis and his National Radical Union, which won 171 of the 300 seats in Parliament. Background Karamanlis decided to call for early elections, after some of the most prominent members of the National Radical Union defected from the party, including George Rallis and Panagis Papaligouras el Παναγής Παπαληγούρας. Although Karamanlis could have a parliamentary majority, he preferred to go for elections, in order to achieve a renewed public support. The pretext of the defection was a new electoral law that Karamanlis passed. Rallis was opposed to the law, thinking that it is going to be extremely favorable for the United Democratic Left, a party believed to be linked with the then-banned Communist Party of Greece. Results The outcome of the results proved that Rallis' "fears" were justified. The United Democratic Left (EDA) became the second biggest party, defeating a divided centre. file:1958 PARL.svg National Radical Union 1583885 171 +6 United Democratic Left 939902 79 – Liberal Party 795445 36 – Progressive Agricultural Democratic Union 408787 10 New Union of Popular Parties 113358 4 New List of Independents 4009 0 –2 Independents 2339 0 –1 16197 0 5119148 Nohlen & Stöver Aftermath Just after the elections Karamanlis formed a new government, taking back in his party the defectors. The unexpected rise of EDA, barely nine years after the end of the Greek Civil War, sent alarms through the right-wing establishment, and measures were taken to combat the emergent "communist threat", including the division of the large urban electoral districts of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki so that the left-voting areas would be separated (forming the Athens B, Piraeus B, etc. constituencies), as well as the establishment of a dedicated domestic security agency, the General Directorate of National Security. References Category:Parliamentary elections in Greece Parliamentary Category:1950s in Greek politics Greece Greece Parliamentary Category:Konstantinos Karamanlis