In July 1987, the country's then prime minister Andreas Papandreou, accepts one suggestion after another to resort to ballots in the heart of summer. Andreas Papandreou, however, was not an ordinary politician and the only sure thing is that it would be difficult to convince him if he had things differently in his mind. With these and with them, one of the most legendary phrases of the Greek political scene emerged. "Well, we won't spoil the people's bathrooms either"! This was answered by A. Papandreou and the conversation about early elections that summer ended.
It seems, however, that as a doctrine the baths of the people pre-existed long before the phrase of A. Papandreou. How can it be explained that since the birth of the new Greek state until today, in the summer quarter, only 4 + 1 electoral contests have taken place. And if we want to make it even more "summery" and get it out of the equation in June, today's election is only the second since 1928! So, it is easy to conclude that politicians have always respected people's bathrooms. Even if they didn't say so.
The 2019 national electionsSo, before they are even held, they have already acquired the characterization of historians as it is the first time after many decades that the polls are set up at the time when the Greeks normally set up umbrellas and sunbeds on the beaches. They are, in fact, the first to take place in July as so far there have been three electoral contests in June and one in August.
The three electoral contests of June
The sixth month of the year and the first of summer is the one that is most common for summer elections. As already mentioned, polls have been set three times in June.
The first is on June 2, 1985. That Sunday PASOK won the election after winning 45,82% of the vote, compared to 40,84% in New Democracy. Andreas Papandreou's party managed to gain autonomy after winning 161 seats against 126 ND. At the same time, the KKE, the third largest party in parliament, received 629.525 votes (9,89%), giving it 12 seats. The KKE of the interior had also entered the parliament, having won 117.135 seat with 1 votes.
On June 19, 1989, the ballot boxes and the New Republic of Konstantinos Mitsotakis emerges victorious. He received 2.887.488 votes (44,28%) and 145 seats. PASOK is in second place with 2.551.518 votes (39,13%) and 125 seats. The Coalition receives 855.944 (13,13%) and 25 seats. While from one headquarters they receive DIANA and "Trust". Five months later, in November of the same year, the country will be re-elected.
The last time, until today, summer ballots were set was in 2012. On June 17 of that year, the caretaker government of Panagiotis Pikrammenos, given that in the previous elections of May 2012, it was not possible to form a government that has the confidence of the Parliament, it raises the ballots again.
In the June elections, New Democracy was declared the first party, followed by the second SYRIZA with percentages of 29,7% and 26,9% respectively, while PASOK came in third with 12,3%. The other parties that had elected MPs achieved percentages of less than 8% and were: Independent Greeks, Golden Dawn, Democratic Left and Communist Party of Greece. After the elections, New Democracy, PASOK and the Democratic Left formed his Government Antonis Samaras.
The first and last (to date) elections held in August
If we are talking about summer vacations, then their epitome is those of 1928. Not only because they took place in August but also because the main protagonist and ultimately the winner of the elections was literally spotted diving on a beach in Crete. The protagonist was Eleftherios Venizelos and this particular election contest was the one that actually marked his return to the country's political affairs.
It was a time when the Hellenic Republic was being tested and things were extremely fluid. The political world of the country was looking for a way out and it was in the face of Venizelos who had formally but not essentially withdrawn from politics. He took a bath in Crete when he was spotted and persuaded to take action for the good of the country. The Liberal leader set an election date for August 19. Just four days after August XNUMXth. The election period, in fact, had started a month earlier, that is, in mid-July!
The election was marked by a four-year government under Eleftherios Venizelos, who returned to politics triumphantly. The anti-Venezuelan faction was divided, despite the majority system, and sank. The Liberal Party, according to the website sansimera.gr, collected 46,94% of the vote and won 178 seats, compared to 23,94% and 19 seats of the People's Party under the leadership of Panagis Tsaldaris. 8 more parties were represented in the Parliament: Labor - Agricultural Party under Alexandros Papanastasiou (6,71% and 20 seats), Eleftherofronon Party under Ioannis Metaxas (5,30% and 1 seat), Independent Vassilofrones (3,79% and 4 seats), National Democratic Party of Georgios Kondylis (2,71% and 9 seats), Progressive Party of Georgios Kafantaris (2,53% and 3 seats), Independent Democrats (1,78% and 6 seats), Conservative Democratic Party under Andreas Michalakopoulos (1,56% and 5 seats) and the Progressive Union Party under Konstantinos Zavitsianos (1,32% and 5 seats). The KKE appeared under the name One Front, but did not elect a member of parliament, garnering 2,35% of the vote.
Those elections, however, had another feature. They were marked by… kidnappings of politicians! In a period of the political life of the place where things were wilder, the pre-election period was marked by the kidnapping of two candidates of the Kafandar party in Ioannina by robbers, on the day, in fact, that Venizelos would hold his central election campaign in the city. speaking! The first victim was the former minister Alexandros Mylonas and the second Alexandros Melas. The perpetrators were the robber group of Takis and Costas Koumbis, who demanded a ransom of six million drachmas. Along with the two candidates, former MP Hasiotis (who was eventually released immediately due to his advanced age) and various party officials were also abducted. Eleftherios Venizelos stated that he would fight for the final fight against robbery and would resign if he did not achieve this goal, even if he succeeded in the rest of his government program. He also stated that the elections would be postponed if Mylonas was not released.
Finally, on August 6, the robbers released Mylonas to look for the ransom and on August 11, Melas, after first receiving 5,2 million drachmas as ransom! They then fled to Albania but were arrested there on October 28 and extradited to Athens. They were tried, convicted and executed on 28 February 1930.