1977 Greek legislative election

1977 Greek legislative election

← 1974 20 November 1977 (1977-11-20) 1981 →
All 300 seats to the Greek Parliament 151 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Constantine Karamanlis Andreas Papandreou Party ND PASOK Leader since 4 October 1974 3 September 1974 Last election 220 seats, 54.37% 12 seats, 13.58% Seats won 171 93 Seat change 49 81 Popular vote 2,146,365 1,300,025 Percentage 41.84% 25.34% Swing 12.53% 11.76%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Georgios Mavros Charilaos Florakis Party EDIK KKE Leader since 1974 1974 Last election 60 seats, 20.42% 8 seats, 9.47% Seats won 16 11 Seat change 44 3 Popular vote 612,782 480,272 Percentage 11.95% 9.36% Swing 8.47% 0.11%
Prime Minister before election Constantine Karamanlis ND Prime Minister after election Constantine Karamanlis ND

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 20 November 1977.^[1] After Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis called for early elections, his New Democracy party suffered a significant loss of power. However, Karamanlis managed to secure an absolute majority in the Parliament. The big surprise was the success of PASOK, whose socialistic rhetoric remained radical. Because of PASOK's success, the Centrists (Union of the Democratic Centre, ΕDIK, former Center Union - New Forces) led again by Georgios Mavros lost half of their power. As a result, Andreas Papandreou, PASOK's leader, became a prominent figure in Greek politics. The Communists (Communist Party of Greece) and the Nationalists managed to amplify their support.

Future Prime Minister of Greece, Antonis Samaras first won a seat in parliament at this election.

Results[]

Aftermath[]

In 1979 Greece became European Community's 10th member, despite the opposition of PASOK and the Communists. In October 1980 Greece rejoined NATO military structure. In 1980, Constantine Karamanlis succeeded Constantine Tsatsos as President of the Republic. George Rallis became Prime Minister and new leader of ND.

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