Greece

Abstract

The 1984 Euro-elections in Greece provoked a fierce campaign fought very much on domestic issues and were seen as a major test of the Socialist Government’s popularity, and as an opportunity for the main opposition party, the centre-right New Democracy (ND) party, to show that it had recovered from its defeat in the 1981 national elections. In the event, the Socialists (PASOK, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement) remained the largest single party, though ND did narrow the gap. Earlier opposition suggestions, that a major swing from PASOK to ND might prompt President Karamanlis to call fresh national elections, therefore evaporated when the results were declared, and the Papandreou Government looks set to run its normal course until October 1985. One direct consequence of the election results was that Averof resigned as ND leader, less than three months after the party’s electoral disappointment.