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2009 Greek legislative election

(Redirected from Greek legislative election, 2009)

Early parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 4 October 2009.[1] Elections were not required until September 2011, but on 2 September 2009 Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis of New Democracy announced that he would request President Karolos Papoulias dissolve Parliament and call elections.[2] Parliament was dissolved on 9 September.

2009 Greek legislative election
← 2007 4 October 2009 May 2012 →
All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament
151 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered9,929,065
Turnout70.95% (Decrease3.20pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader George Papandreou Kostas Karamanlis Aleka Papariga
Party PASOK ND KKE
Last election 38.10%, 102 seats 41.87%, 152 seats 8.15%, 22 seats
Seats won 160 91 21
Seat change Increase58 Decrease61 Decrease1
Popular vote 3,012,542 2,295,719 517,249
Percentage 43.92% 33.47% 7.54%
Swing Increase5.82 pp Decrease8.40 pp Decrease0.71 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Georgios Karatzaferis Alexis Tsipras
Party LAOS Syriza
Last election 3.80%, 10 seats 5.04%, 14 seats
Seats won 15 13
Seat change Increase5 Decrease1
Popular vote 386,205 315,665
Percentage 5.63% 4.60%
Swing Increase1.83 pp Decrease0.44 pp
Results by electoral district
Prime Minister before election

Kostas Karamanlis
ND

Prime Minister after election

George Papandreou
PASOK

The result was a victory for the opposition PASOK party led by George Papandreou, who became the new prime minister. New Democracy lost 61 of its 152 seats, with its vote share dropping by over 8 percentage points.

Voting was mandatory; however there are no sanctions or penalties for not voting.

Participating parties

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A total of 23 parties participated in the elections. Six of them participated in only one or two parliamentary constituencies.

Opinion polls

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Main article: Opinion polling for the 2009 Greek legislative election
 
Local regression trend line of poll results from 16 September 2007 to 4 October 2009, with each line corresponding to a political party.

Events before the election

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Leaders of the (L to R) Ecologist Greens, Popular Orthodox Rally, Coalition of the Radical Left, Communist Party, PASOK, and New Democracy parties before a televised debate
  • September 11, 2009: "Ecologists Greece" announced their electoral alliance with the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS)[3]
  • September 16, 2009: A total of 28 parties submitted candidate lists to the Areios Pagos. The court will vet the candidacies' legal standing and officially declare lawful candidates within about a week. In past elections, some candidacies were rejected because the candidates had held certain public offices which they had not resigned in a timely fashion.
  • September 21, 2009: NET state television, in simulcast with major commercial TV stations, broadcast the debate among the leaders of ND, PASOK, KKE, SYRIZA, LAOS, and the Ecologist Greens. The party leaders questioned by a team of journalists from the TV stations participating in the simulcast. Questions and responses were rotated and timed. Each party leader was allowed to place one question to one other party leader of their choice directly.
  • September 21, 2009: The Areios Pagos announced the parties participating in the elections. 5 of the 28 applications were rejected; namely: "Ecologists Greece – Konstantinos Papanikolas – Political Catharsis", "Hellenic Direct Democracy Movement" (Ελληνικό Κίνημα Άμεσης Δημοκρατίας - Giorgos Kokkas), "New Greek Republic" (Νέα Ελληνική Δημοκρατία - N. Laskos), "Where are you, Papadopoulos? – Party of Greek Aliens – Terrorise the Terrorists" (Πού είσαι Παπαδόπουλε – Κόμμα Ελλήνων Αλλοδαπών – Τρομοκρατήστε τους Τρομοκράτες), "Future of the Greeks - Servants of the Greek People" (Μέλλον των Ελλήνων – Υπηρέτες του Ελληνικού Λαού - N. Skopelitis).
  • September 22, 2009: The two likely prime ministers, Kostas Karamanlis and George Papandreou, debated for 75 minutes. The debate was divided in 5 sections (the economy, education, administration, the environment, and foreign policy). Both leaders had 2 sessions of 3 minutes and 1 session of 1 minute. The moderator had 1 minute to introduce the subject. The debate was moderated by journalist Maria Houkli, and was simulcast as per the multi-party debate above.
  • October 3, 2009: It was announced that seven pollsters pooled their resources to conduct a joint exit poll, which was broadcast by all TV and news stations at 7 PM, the time when voting officially ended. The pollsters procured approximately 14,000 randomised responses and were aiming for a ±1.5% margin of error in their earliest predictions. Singular Logic, the IT contractor for the Ministry of Interior, implemented a secure system to obtain initial tallies from approximately 4,000 voting stations by SMS. They were thus able to project final results within ±0.2% by 9 PM and within ±0.1% by midnight.
  • October 3, 2009: Publicised odds by international bookmakers were roughly in agreement with the latest predictions as outlined in the tables above. Sports betting is the only form of betting allowed in Greece.
  • October 4, 2009: Voting commenced at 7 AM and was completed at 7 PM, in 20,937 stations throughout the country. Turnout was estimated at slightly more than 7 million.

Exit polls and projections

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The initial results of the exit poll conducted jointly by pollsters Alco, GPO, MARC, Metron Analysis, MRB, Opinion, and RASS were made public at 7 PM Eastern European DST:

Joint exit poll October 4, 2009 ND PASOK KKE Syriza LAOS EcoGreens Others
Vote percentage 7 PM 34.3-37.3 41.0-44.0 7.3-8.3 3.9-4.9 5.0-6.0 2.0-3.0 -
Seats in Parliament 7 PM 94-100 151-159 20-22 11-13 14-16 0 -

The revised results of the exit poll conducted jointly by pollsters Alco, GPO, MARC, Metron Analysis, MRB, Opinion, and RASS were made public at 8:50 PM Eastern European DST. The margin of error claimed is less than 0.5%:

Joint exit poll October 4, 2009 ND PASOK KKE Syriza LAOS EcoGreens Others
Vote percentage 8:50 PM 33.9 43.8 7.6 4.5 5.6 2.5 -
Seats in Parliament 8:50 PM 92 160 21 12 15 0 -

The statistical projections by Singular Logic and the Ministry of Interior, based on actual returns, were made public at 9 PM Eastern European DST. The margin of error claimed is 0.3%:

Statistical projection October 4, 2009 ND PASOK KKE Syriza LAOS EcoGreens Others
Vote percentage 9 PM 33.8 43.8 7.6 4.5 5.6 2.5 2.2
Seats in Parliament 9 PM 92 160 21 12 15 0 -

Results

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Results, showing the winning party in each municipal unit.
 
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
PASOK3,012,54243.92+5.82160+58
New Democracy2,295,71933.47–8.3791–61
Communist Party of Greece517,2497.54–0.6121–1
Popular Orthodox Rally386,2055.63+1.8315+5
Syriza315,6654.60–0.4413–1
Ecologist Greens173,5892.53+1.4800
Democratic Revival30,7840.45–0.3500
Antarsya24,6870.36New0New
Greek Ecologists19,9930.29+0.2700
Golden Dawn19,6240.29New0New
Union of Centrists18,2960.27–0.0200
Society – Political Party of the Successors of Kapodistrias10,6900.16New0New
Communist Party of Greece (Marxist–Leninist)10,4800.15–0.1000
Democrats7,6000.11New0New
Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Greece5,2190.08–0.0300
Workers' Revolutionary Party4,5370.07+0.0300
Organization for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece1,6650.02–0.0100
Panagrarian Labour Movement of Greece1,3750.02New0New
Smoking Groups for Art and Artistic Creation1,3550.02New0New
Light – Truth – Justice8710.01±0.0000
Friends of Man40.00New0New
Regional Urban Development40.00±0.0000
Old Republic30.00New0New
Independents2650.00±0.0000
Total6,858,421100.00–3000
Valid votes6,858,42197.36
Invalid votes142,9162.03
Blank votes43,2690.61
Total votes7,044,606100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,929,06570.95
Source: Ministry of Interior

By region

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Region PASOK
(%)		 ND
(%)		 KKE
(%)		 LAOS
(%)		 SYRIZA
(%)
Achaea 52.65 28.99 6.60 3.64 3.89
Aetolia-Akarnania 49.45 35.73 6.23 3.03 2.82
Argolida 42.27 42.55 4.48 4.16 3.15
Arkadia 46.46 36.54 5.13 4.79 3.76
Arta 45.14 38.99 6.04 2.58 4.67
Athens A 35.52 31.75 9.55 7.59 7.98
Athens B 40.23 26.62 10.84 7.28 7.40
Attica 43.12 29.46 8.23 8.23 4.94
Boeotia 47.35 31.08 7.30 6.17 3.90
Cephalonia 41.83 33.04 12.25 4.67 3.73
Chalkidiki 41.02 40.47 5.00 5.47 4.05
Chania 51.11 29.73 5.98 3.64 4.37
Chios 49.81 33.94 5.38 3.55 3.37
Corfu 43.36 32.83 11.96 3.54 4.29
Corinthia 46.80 36.03 4.00 5.28 3.77
Dodecanese 54.93 30.74 3.96 4.12 2.71
Drama 41.63 41.26 3.82 6.33 3.26
Elis 54.64 32.75 4.32 3.08 2.57
Euboea 48.19 31.08 6.72 6.01 3.90
Evros 44.74 40.33 3.76 5.92 2.09
Evrytania 51.20 37.56 3.24 2.97 2.27
Florina 44.02 41.63 4.62 3.54 2.95
Grevena 46.91 36.64 7.31 3.56 2.60
Imathia 43.31 37.01 6.91 6.16 3.16
Ioannina 43.94 36.12 7.51 3.50 4.90
Heraklion 62.74 23.70 4.44 2.10 3.71
Karditsa 43.31 39.83 7.50 4.02 2.88
Kastoria 34.60 50.03 4.00 4.46 3.76
Kavala 42.41 37.38 6.00 6.01 4.06
Kilkis 40.85 39.93 7.26 6.39 2.49
Kozani 44.08 39.71 5.76 3.66 3.29
Laconia 36.47 47.26 4.80 5.59 2.84
Larissa 40.81 36.18 9.46 5.69 3.98
Lasithi 59.37 27.51 3.47 2.19 3.84
Lefkada 41.66 37.01 10.42 2.37 5.16
Lesvos 42.19 31.06 14.10 4.03 4.43
Magnesia 40.39 35.55 8.79 5.82 4.66
Messenia 39.06 43.26 5.74 5.07 3.62
Kyklades 44.89 36.03 5.10 4.19 4.64
Pella 43.04 41.48 4.36 5.51 2.52
Phocis 40.22 39.73 6.92 5.24 3.58
Phthiotis 43.85 40.35 4.92 4.66 2.82
Pieria 41.37 42.27 5.29 5.34 2.81
Piraeus A 38.88 32.97 8.11 7.56 5.83
Piraeus B 44.34 23.06 12.88 7.58 5.69
Preveza 42.98 38.89 8.04 3.09 3.88
Rethymno 57.91 27.41 3.75 3.10 3.90
Rhodope 53.08 34.52 2.48 3.61 4.27
Samos 38.34 29.72 18.05 3.97 5.13
Serres 37.10 46.77 5.02 5.36 2.52
Thesprotia 48.75 36.61 4.60 3.06 3.47
Thessaloniki A 39.11 30.30 9.53 8.26 5.77
Thessaloniki B 38.23 37.62 7.57 7.48 4.08
Trikala 45.14 37.63 8.22 3.80 2.54
Xanthi 58.79 26.21 2.75 4.41 4.56
Zakynthos 47.55 29.73 11.18 3.64 4.23

Post-election events

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Former Prime Minister, Kostas Karamanlis and George Papandreou in the ceremony for the official handover at the Maximos Mansion.
  • October 4, 2009: Incumbent Prime Minister and New Democracy party leader Kostas Karamanlis conceded defeat and stated that he is resigning his offices, and will not stand as candidate at the party convention summoned to elect his successor next month.[4][5] The 33.5% tally marks a historic low for the party since its founding in 1974.[6][7]
  • October 5, 2009: The Speaker of the outgoing Parliament notified the President of the Republic about the election returns. Immediately afterwards incumbent Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis tended his resignation to the President.[8] PASOK leader George Papandreou was then summoned by the President and given a mandate to form a Cabinet as the Prime Minister-designate.[9] PASOK Member of the European Parliament Stavros Lambrinidis said the result was "remarkable".[8]
  • October 6, 2009: George Papandreou was sworn in as prime minister at 11 am, and moved into the Máximos Mansion, the Prime Ministerial office. The names of the new ministers were announced at 7 pm.[10][11] It became known that George Papandreou had offered the EcoGreens one of the two positions of Undersecretary for the Environment, but the offer was turned down.
  • October 7, 2009: The new Cabinet was sworn in at 11 AM. The New Democracy party congress is to convene and elect its new leader at November 7, 2009.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Greeks to vote on 4 October". RFI. 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  2. ^ "Greece's PM calls snap election". BBC.com. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  3. ^ Συστράτευση Οικολόγων Ελλάδος- ΛΑΟΣ (in Greek). ert.gr. 2009-09-11. Archived from the original on September 14, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  4. ^ Paul Anast (2009-10-05). "Greece's opposition Socialists resoundingly win snap election". London: telegraph.co.uk. paragraph 2. Retrieved 5 October 2009. I am beginning the procedures for an extraordinary congress to elect a new leader...
  5. ^ ELENA BECATOROS. "Socialists trounce conservatives in Greek election". Yahoo! News. paragraph 2. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  6. ^ ELENA BECATOROS. "Socialists trounce conservatives in Greek election". Yahoo! News. paragraph 2. Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009. Humbled by his New Democracy party's worst electoral performance ever
  7. ^ Paul Anast (2009-10-05). "Greece's opposition Socialists resoundingly win snap election". London: telegraph.co.uk. paragraph 4. Retrieved 5 October 2009. The results were the worst for the governing conservative New Democracy party in 30 years.
  8. ^ a b "RFI - Socialists hail perfect storm of support, as Papandreou takes over". Rfi.fr. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  9. ^ "Greece's Socialists win snap poll". BBC News. 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  10. ^ "Στον Πρόεδρο για την εντολή σχηματισμού κυβέρνησης ο Γ.Παπανδρέου - George Papandreou visits the President to receive a mandate to form a Cabinet" (in Greek). in.gr. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  11. ^ Smith, Helena (2009-10-06). "Papandreou looks to Greek diaspora as he forms new cabinet". Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-10-06.

Further reading

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