Greek legislative election, 1963

Greek legislative election, 1963

← 1961 3 November 1963 1964 →
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All 300 seats to the Greek Parliament 151 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Georgios Papandreou Konstantinos Karamanlis Ioannis Passalidis Party ΕΚ ERE EDA Leader since 1961 1955 1951 Last election 86 seats, 33.66% 176 seats, 50.81% 22 seats, 14,63% Seats won 138 132 28 Seat change +52 -44 +6 Percentage 42.04% 39.37% 14,34% Swing +8.38% -11.44% -0.29%
PM before election Konstantinos Karamanlis ERE Subsequent PM Georgios Papandreou ΕΚ

Konstantinos Karamanlis
ERE

Georgios Papandreou
ΕΚ

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 3 November 1963. They resulted in a narrow victory for the Center Union of Georgios Papandreou after three consecutive victories of Konstantinos Karamanlis and his National Radical Union party and after 11 years, during which the conservative parties (Greek Rally and its successor, the National Radical Union) ruled Greece.

The early elections were caused by Karamanlis' resignation. It was a fierce confrontation with King Paul I and the royal family that led to the fall of the right-wing government. The King (influenced by the Queen Frederika and his son Constantine, according to Karamanlis' later argumentation) didn't follow the prime minister's instructions, concerning an official visit of the royal family to the United Kingdom. The King's stance outraged Karamanlis, who submitted immediately his resignation.

The political unrest was also exacerbated by Georgios Papandreou's fierceful opposition. The leader of the Center Union was still refusing to accept the official results of the 1961 legislative elections, the elections of "violence and fraud", according to his aggressive rhetoric. Hence, he refused to legitimise the Parliament and he was inciting public manifestations against Karamanlis and the Palace.

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Wikipedia