- Greek legislative election, 1946
These elections were marked by:
* The marked abstention of voters, caused by the abstention of
Communist Party of Greece , and the effects of the civil war (1943-1944, 1946-1949), because of which many citizens either could not or chose not to vote.
* The dominance of the right-wing parties over the centre-liberal parties, caused by the polarization between right and left.One of the reasons for the defeat of the centre-liberal parties was the division of the Liberal Party, founded by
Eleftherios Venizelos .One faction remained loyal to the leadership ofThemistoklis Sophoulis , while another faction followedSophoklis Venizelos , who formed a coalition with Georgios Papandreou andPanayiotis Kanellopoulos .As a result of these elections,
Konstantinos Tsaldaris became prime-minister leading a right-wing coalition. Nonetheless, he soon decided to resign in favor ofThemistoklis Sophoulis , who led a government of national unity (conservative and centre-liberal forces) during the entire second phase of the civil war (1946-1949). One of the priorities of the new government was the proclamation of a plebiscite for the restoration of the Greek monarchy.election-table rowspan=2 colspan=3 valign=top|Summary of the 31st of March 1946 Greek Parliament ("Vouli ton Ellinon") election results!colspan="3" cellpadding="10" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Votes!colspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Seats
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"!No.!% !align="center"|+− %!align="center"|No.!align="center"|+−
-|United Order of Patriot-Thinkers "Inomeni Parataxis Ethnikofronon"
* People's Party
* Party of National Liberals ("Κόμμα Εθνικών Φιλελευθέρων")
* Reformatory Party
* OthersKonstantinos Tsaldaris Stylianos Gonatas
align="right"|610,995
align="right"|55.12
align="center"
align="right"|
206"
156
34
5
11"
align="center"
-|
National Political Union "Ethniki Politiki Enosis"
* Party of "Venizelian Liberals"
* Democratic Socialist Party
*National Unionist Party
* OthersSophoklis Venizelos
Georgios Papandreou
Panayiotis Kanellopoulos
align="right"|213,721
align="right"|19.28
align="center"
align="right"|
68 "31
7
27
3"
align="center"
-|
Liberal PartyThemistoklis Sophoulis
align="right"|159,525
align="right"|14.39
align="center"
align="center"|48
align="center"
-|National Party of Greece "Ethnikon Komma Ellados"Napoleon Zervas
align="right"|66,027
align="right"|5.96
align="center"
align="center"|20
align="center"
-|Union of the Nationally Minded "Enosis Ethnikofronon"Theodoras Tourkovasilis (Θεόδωρος Τουρκοβασίλης)
align="right"|32,538
align="right"|2.94
align="center"
align="center"|9
align="center"
-|
Lists of Independents|
align="right"|12,036
align="right"|1.08
align="center"
align="center"|2
align="center"
-|Union of Agrarian Parties "Enosis Agrotikon Kommaton"|
align="right"|7,447
align="right"|0.67
align="center"
align="center"|1
align="center"
-|
Party for the National Union ("Χίτες")|
align="right"|1,848
align="right"|0.17
align="center"
align="center"|-
align="center"
-|
Civil and Agricultural Party|
align="right"|1,114
align="right"|0.10
align="center"
align="center"
align="center"
-|
Parataxis ofOrthodox Christian Greeks|
align="right"|298
align="right"|0.03
align="center"
align="center"|-
align="center"
-|
Patriotic Party of Reservists|
align="right"|63
align="right"|0.01
align="center"
align="center"|-
align="center"
-|
Party for the National Union|
align="right"|15
align="right"|0.00
align="center"
align="center"|-
align="center"
-|
Social Party of Greece|
align="right"|13
align="right"|0.00
align="center"
align="center"|-
align="center"
-|
Others|
align="right"|2,833
align="right"|0.25
align="center"
align="center"|-
align="center"
-
colspan="3"|No. of votes
align="right"|1,121,695
align="center"
align="center"
align="center"|354
align="center"
-
colspan="3"|No. of valid votes
align="right"|1,108.472
align="center"|15.49%†
align="center"|
align="center"
align="center"
-
colspan="3"|Invalid votes
align="right"|13,223
align="center"|1.18
align="center"
align="center"
align="right"* †voting rights did not extend to women
* Sources: "Texts of Constitutional history, Volume II"
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.