Greek legislative election, May 2012

Greek legislative election, May 2012

← 2009 6 May 2012 June 2012 →
Members elected →
All 300 seats of the Hellenic Parliament 151 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	9,945,859 0.2%
Turnout	6,476,818 (65.1%) 5.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Antonis Samaras Alexis Tsipras Evangelos Venizelos Party ND SYRIZA PASOK Leader since 30 November 2009 9 February 2008 18 March 2012 Leader's seat Messenia Athens A Thessaloniki A Last election 91 seats, 33.5% 13 seats, 4.6% 160 seats, 43.9% Seats won 108 52 41 Seat change 17 39 119 Popular vote 1,192,103 1,061,928 833,452 Percentage 18.9% 16.8% 13.2% Swing 14.6 pp 12.2 pp 30.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Panos Kammenos Aleka Papariga Nikolaos Michaloliakos Party ANEL KKE ΧΑ Leader since 24 February 2012 27 February 1991 1 November 1993 Leader's seat Athens B Athens B Athens A Last election Did not stand 21 seats, 7.5% 0 seats, 0.3% Seats won 33 26 21 Seat change 33 5 21 Popular vote 671,324 536,105 440,966 Percentage 10.6% 8.5% 7.0% Swing New party 1.0 pp 6.7 pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Fotis Kouvelis Six-member committee Georgios Karatzaferis Party DIMAR OP LAOS Leader since 27 June 2010 Not determinable 14 September 2000 Leader's seat Athens B N/A Athens B (lost) Last election Did not contest 0 seats, 2.5% 15 seats, 5.6% Seats won 19 0 0 Seat change 19 ±0 15 Popular vote 386,394 185,485 182,925 Percentage 6.1% 2.9% 2.9% Swing New party 0.4 pp 2.7 pp
Electoral districts won by ■ – New Democracy ■ – Coalition of the Radical Left ■ – Panhellenic Socialist Movement ■ – Communist Party of Greece
Prime Minister before election Lucas Papademos Independent Interim Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos Independent

■ – New Democracy ■ – Coalition of the Radical Left ■ – Panhellenic Socialist Movement

Lucas Papademos
Independent

Panagiotis Pikrammenos
Independent

The May 2012 Greek legislative election was held in Greece on Sunday, 6 May, to elect all 300 members to the Hellenic Parliament. Under the constitution, it was due to be held in late 2013, four years after the previous election; however, an early election was agreed under the November 2011 agreement to form a coalition government, formed with a remit to ratify and implement decisions taken with other Eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a month earlier.

The European sovereign debt crisis and the Greek financial crisis, in particular, have led to an escalated political crisis. There was an announcement by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou that a referendum would take place to determine whether Greece would accept the next bailout deal with the European Union, the IMF and the European Central Bank (ECB). However such a referendum never took place. The parties of the opposition and politicians from within the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement have demanded an early election ever since.

At the same time, protests and strikes in Greece have been commonplace, with some turning violent. Social unrest in the country is the result of a series of austerity packages passed by the Greek parliament since 2010.