1977 Greek legislative election

1977 Greek legislative election

20 November 1977
All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament 151 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Constantine Karamanlis Andreas Papandreou Georgios Mavros Party ND PASOK EDIK Last election 54.37%, 220 seats 13.58%, 12 seats, 20.42%, 60 seats Seats won 171 93 16 Seat change 49 81 44 Popular vote 2,146,365 1,300,025 612,782 Percentage 41.84% 25.34% 11.95% Swing 12.53 pp 11.76 pp 8.47 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Charilaos Florakis Stefanos Stefanopoulos Ilias Iliou Party KKE National Alignment SPAD Last election 9.47%, 8 seats – Seats won 11 5 2 Seat change 3 New Popular vote 480,272 349,988 139,356 Percentage 9.36% 6.82% 2.72% Swing 0.11 pp New   Seventh party   Leader Constantine Mitsotakis Party Party of New Liberals Last election – Seats won 2 Seat change New Popular vote 55,494 Percentage 1.08% Swing New
Prime Minister before election Constantine Karamanlis ND Prime Minister after election Constantine Karamanlis ND

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 20 November 1977. 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, EDIK, 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

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	New Democracy	2,146,365	41.84	171	−49
	PASOK	1,300,025	25.34	93	+81
	Union of the Democratic Centre	612,786	11.95	16	+16
	Communist Party of Greece	480,272	9.36	11	–
	National Alignment	349,988	6.82	5	New
	Progress and Left Forces Alliance	139,356	2.72	2	–
	Party of New Liberals	55,494	1.08	2	New
	Revolutionary Communist Movement	11,895	0.23	0	0
	Popular Democratic Unity	8,839	0.17	0	New
	International Workers' Union – Trotskyists	1,032	0.02	0	New
	Hellenic Christian-Social Union	777	0.02	0	New
	Communist Organisation "Fighter"	321	0.01	0	New
	Labour-Agricultural Party of Greece	170	0.00	0	New
	Farmer Smoke-Producers Party	84	0.00	0	New
	Olympic Democracy	19	0.00	0	New
	Independents	22,348	0.44	0	New
Total		5,129,771	100.00	300	0
Valid votes		5,129,771	98.77
Invalid/blank votes		64,120	1.23
Total votes		5,193,891	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,403,738	81.11
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

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.