Greek legislative election, 1923

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 16 December 1923.^[1] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 250 of the 398 seats.^[2]

Background

After the defeat of the Liberals in 1920, Eleftherios Venizelos left the country, King Constantine I returned and Greece was soundly defeated by the newly reformed Turkey in the war in Asia Minor. After the death of King Constantine, his eldest son George was proclaimed King George II. After the national defeat and the definitive Treaty of Lausanne however, Greece was sorely divided.

On 18 October 1923 the decree for calling elections to the Fourth National Assembly of the Greeks was published. The date of the elections was set for 2 December, and on 19 October, military law and censorship were abolished. Two days later, there was what came to be called a "counter-revolutionary" uprising against the government. This uprising was suppressed but it influenced in a significant way the political situation in the country since the military leaders behind it were pressing for the expulsion of King George and the proclamation of a republic.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Liberal Party			250
Democratic Union-Democratic Liberals			120
Independent Democrats			7
Anti-Venizelists			6
Thessaloniki Jews			4
Agrarian Party			3
Western Thrace Muslims			3
Socialist Party			1
Independents			3
Total	694,448		397
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

The pro-monarchist parties abstained and the Liberals won 250 seats out of 398. Following the elections, the King was forced to leave the country. Admiral Pavlos Koundouriotis was appointed regent. The new Parliament convened on the January 2, 1924. The office of Prime Minister was held for a short time by G. Kafandaris and then on the March 24, 1924, Alexandros Papanastasiou was appointed to the post. His programmatic statement of legislative proposals is perhaps the most radical document which had up to that time ever been read out in the Greek Parliament. Its basic aim was to proclaim a republic. On the next day (25 March) the Parliament voted to proclaim a republic, and this was endorsed in a referendum held on April 13, 1924. The first President elected by the Parliament was Pavlos Koundouriotis.

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p829 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p857