The Voters Choose Caramanlis

Two hours after the polls closed at sunset, almost everyone in Athens knew the results. In Greece's first free elections since 1964, the voters placed their trust in the man who had returned from exile four months before to lead them out of the dark years of military rule and the debacle of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. In one of the most impressive mandates ever bestowed on a modern Greek leader, Premier Constantino Caramanlis, 67, and his conservative New Democracy Party swept to victory with 54% of the vote and 220 of the 300 seats in the single-chamber Parliament. "Without bloodshed, without upheavals and finally with the free expression of the will of the people," said Caramanlis after his triumph, "democracy has returned to its birthplace."

A Poor Third. While the Premier's victory was no great surprise, the dimensions of it went far beyond even his expectations. The moderate Center Union-New Forces Party of former Foreign Minister George Mavros, which handily won Greece's last election before the colonels' coup, fell far short of expected goals, with only 20% of the vote and 60 seats. Trailing a poor third was Andreas Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) with 14% and twelve seats. Papandreou, son of the late George Papandreou, Greece's last elected premier, organized a "children's crusade" of sorts (see box following page), with young people campaigning around the country against the crown, the junta, the Establishment and the U.S.

Several prominent resistance leaders who stayed in Greece to fight the junta won seats in the new Parliament. So did Alexandras Panagoulis, the would-be assassin of ex-Dictator George Papadopoulos. But Actress Melina Mercouri, an outspoken opponent of the old regime, went down to a narrow defeat on the Pasok ticket in her working-class district in Piraeus. Another loser was Composer Mikis Theodorakis, who ran as one of the candidates of the United Left, an umbrella organization of Greece's three Communist parties.

It was the first time in nearly three decades that the Communists had been allowed to campaign legally, but they emerged as considerably less than a threat, gaining only 9% of the vote and eight seats. Papandreou's Pasok party, for one thing, drew votes away from the Communists, who attacked him as an "American stooge." At least 500,000 Communists did not vote because they had not registered last March when the junta was still in power--and registering then meant seeing the police.

But the various Communist factions were also bitterly divided among themselves, so much so that some party leaders counseled their followers to vote for Caramanlis. Others backed the Premier because they feared that a strong Communist showing might provoke another round of repression or possibly another military coup. Even so, the combined showing of Pasok and the United Left (23%) was considerably better than the 12% that the left captured in the last election.

In the end, Caramanlis won not so much because of his campaign but because of his performance as Greece's interim leader in the troubled months since his return. Seeking his fourth term as Premier (he previously served from 1955 to 1963), he ran a restrained campaign that sought to portray him as a statesman rather than a vote-hunting politician. He deliberately avoided taking a stand on two of the most sensitive issues: the punishment to be meted out to the former members of the military junta now in exile on the island of Kea and the question of restoring the monarchy.

That question will soon be resolved.

Shortly before the election, Caramanlis set Dec. 8 as the date for a national referendum to decide whether King Constantine, now in exile in London, would be allowed to return to the throne. Since most major parties are on record against the monarchy, it is expected that the King's return will be rejected.

Glimmer of Hope. Other pressing matters include a settlement of divided Cyprus, which Caramanlis declared "the immediate and crucial problem" facing his government. Last week there were some glimmerings of hope that progress could finally be made. After two months without an effective government, Turkey at last had one; on the very day that Greek voters gave Caramanlis his mandate, Turkish President Fahri Korutue named Sadi Irmak, 70, an appointed Senator who does not belong to any party, as Premier of a caretaker regime. Beyond that, the results of the Greek elections were well received in Ankara, which regards Caramanlis as a "reasonable and informed" man with whom it can do business.

Caramanlis also has some serious economic matters to handle. He is expected to start stiff fiscal restrictions to halt Greece's spiraling inflation, now running at 30%, the highest rate in Europe. During his campaign, Caramanlis warned that such measures will mean "pain and sacrifices from all Greeks and mostly from the well-to-do classes." He added that one of Athens' principal aims will be to make Greece a full partner in the Common Market. In addition, he said, such a move would "save us from the need of seeking special patrons," namely the U.S.

Whether Greece will resume its ties with the military wing of NATO, which were severed after the Cyprus invasion, is unclear. Caramanlis is known to feel that his mandate means that Greeks expect strong leadership based on their own rather than American interests. He may demand a renegotiation of the agreement providing for U.S. military bases in Greece, but that will depend on whether Washington helps negotiate what Athens considers a reasonable and fair solution for Cyprus.

Late last week the new Premier appointed Dimitri Bitsios as Foreign Minister. Bitsios is an experienced diplomat who worked on the 1960 Cyprus agreement and has been in charge of the foreign ministry since George Mavros resigned to campaign. Caramanlis' other Cabinet choices were viewed as solid professionals if somewhat disappointingly conservative. All are members of his own party.

Nonetheless, Greek voters of every political persuasion seemed genuinely pleased last week that they had chosen a strong and stable leadership for the months ahead. They were also proud that the emotion-charged campaign had been free of violence and charges of fraud. Declared Theodorakis, reflecting on the outcome: "This was a national election. The people ignored their partisan considerations and gave their votes a national character."

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