June 1989 Greek legislative election explained

Country:Greece
Type:parliamentary
Previous Election:1985 Greek legislative election
Previous Year:1985
Next Election:November 1989 Greek legislative election
Next Year:November 1989
Seats For Election:All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament
Majority Seats:151
Election Date:18 June 1989
Image1:Mitsotakis 1992.jpg
Leader1:Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Party1:New Democracy (Greece)
Last Election1:40.84%, 126 seats
Seats1:145
Seat Change1: 19
Popular Vote1:2,887,488
Percentage1:44.28%
Swing1:3.44pp
Leader2:Andreas Papandreou
Party2:PASOK
Seats2:125
Seat Change2: 36
Popular Vote2:2,551,518
Percentage2:39.13%
Swing2:6.69pp
Image3:Charilaos Florakis.JPG
Leader3:Charilaos Florakis
Party3:Synaspismos
Last Election3:
Seats3:28
Seat Change3:New
Popular Vote3:855,944
Percentage3:13.13%
Swing3:New
Image4:Konstantinos Stefanopoulos 2000.jpg
Leader4:Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Party4:Democratic Renewal
Last Election4:
Seats4:1
Seat Change4:New
Popular Vote4:65,614
Percentage4:1.01%
Swing4:New
Leader5:Sadik Achmet
Party5:Trust
Last Election5:
Seats5:1
Seat Change5:New
Popular Vote5:25,099
Percentage5:0.38%
Swing5:New
Prime Minister
Posttitle:Prime Minister after election
Before Election:Andreas Papandreou
Before Party:PASOK
After Election:Tzannis Tzannetakis
After Party:New Democracy (Greece)

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 18 June 1989.[1] The liberal-conservative New Democracy party of Konstantinos Mitsotakis defeated PASOK of Andreas Papandreou. However, New Democracy could not form a government, since its 5% lead in the popular vote was not enough to reach a majority because of the proportional representation system voted into electoral law by the previous PASOK government. An agreement between ND and Synaspismos was made to form a short-term government of "katharsis", with a mandate to clean up the various scandals from the outgoing PASOK government. Tzannis Tzannetakis was chosen as a compromise candidate to become Prime Minister, and an agreement was made that the coalition government would resign in October. This was the first, and as of 2024, only time the Communist Party of Greece (as a part of Synaspismos) was part of a governing coalition.

Notes and References

  1. [Dieter Nohlen]