// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy was the 1990 Greek election a ballot blast? It was a vote of confidence in a "pole" position.

1990 Greek presidential election

1st phase (1P) 19 February, 25 February, 3 March 2nd phase (2P) 30 April, 5 May 1990

Nominee Konstantinos Karamanlis Ioannis Alevras Christos Sartzetakis Party New Democracy PASOK Independent 1P/R1 No participation No participation 151 (200 needed) 1P/R2 No participation 127 (200 needed) 21 1P/R3 No participation 128 (180 needed) 21 2P/R1 149 (180 needed) 123 No participation 2P/R2 153 (151 needed) 125 No participation   Nominee Konstantinos Despotopoulos Party Synaspismos 1P/R1 No participation 1P/R2 No participation 1P/R3 No participation 2P/R1 21 2P/R2 21

President before election Christos Sartzetakis Independent President after election Konstantinos Karamanlis ND

The 1990 Greek presidential election was an indirect election for the position of President of the Hellenic Republic was held by the Hellenic Parliament from February to May 1990.

The election took place following the "katharsis" period, during which a coalition government between conservative New Democracy and Leftist parties under Synaspismos indicted former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and four of his ministers over the Koskotas scandal. Additionally, memories remained vivid of the presidential election, during which Papandreou triggered a constitutional crisis to secure the presidency for his preferred candidate, Christos Sartzetakis, who was the presiding president of the election.

New Democracy's candidate was Konstantinos Karamanlis, who abstained in the first three rounds, while the other parties supported their candidates. As no candidate achieved the necessary votes in three consecutive rounds, the Greek Constitution required new national elections, which were held in April 1990. The elections paved the way for New Democracy's victory, however, its parliamentary majority was slim, making it challenging to elect a candidate of their choice for president. Karamanlis was elected president in the second round as the Constitution reduces the required electoral threshold in successive rounds when no candidate secures enough votes.

Parliamentary votes for president

In the first phase, no candidate had sufficient votes to become president. Karamanlis refused to participate in this phase. In the first round, Sartzetakis, and the current president, received 151 votes with the support of PASOK and Synaspismos, while New Democracy abstained. In the second round, Sartzetakis received 21 votes since PASOK had a new candidate Giannis Alevras, who received 127 votes. In the third round, Sartzetakis received 21 votes again and Giannis Alevras 128 votes. Since no president was elected, new elections on 8 April took place under the Constitution.

Candidate		Party	19 February		25 February		3 March
			Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Christos Sartzetakis	Independent	151	100.00	21	14.19	21	14.09
	Giannis Alevras	PASOK	0	0.00	127	85.81	128	85.91
Present but not voted
Total			151	100.00	148	100.00	149	100.00
Valid votes			151	100.00	148	100.00	149	100.00
Invalid/blank votes			0	0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
Total votes			151	100.00	148	100.00	149	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			300	50.33	300	49.33	300	49.67
Source:

In the second phase, there were three candidates, Karamanlis supported by New Democracy, Alevras from PASOK, and Konstantinos Despotopoulos from Synaspismos. The first round failed to point to a victor. Karamanlis received 153 votes in the second round, two votes above the threshold of 151, becoming president for a second time.

Candidate		Party	30 April		5 May
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Konstantinos Karamanlis	New Democracy	149	50.68	153	51.00
	Giannis Alevras	PASOK	123	41.84	125	41.67
	Konstantinos Despotopoulos	Synaspismos	21	7.14	21	7.00
Present but not voted			1	0.34	1	0.33
Total			294	100.00	300	100.00
Valid votes			294	100.00	300	100.00
Invalid/blank votes			0	0.00	0	0.00
Total votes			294	100.00	300	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			300	98.00	300	100.00
Source:

Sources

• "Οι Πρόεδροι της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας". sansimera.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2025-02-20. Retrieved 2025-02-20.
• Μιχάλης Στούκας (19 January 2025). "Από τον Μιχαήλ Στασινόπουλο στον Κωνσταντίνο Τασούλα - Όλοι οι ένοικοι του Προεδρικού Μεγάρου". Proto Thema (in Greek).
• "Ο Κ. Καραμανλής Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας". Kathimerini (in Greek). 5 May 1990.

Further reading

• Verney, Susannah (1990). "Between coalition and one‐party government: The Greek elections of November 1989 and April 1990". West European Politics. 13 (4): 131–138. doi:10.1080/01402389008424824.
• Pridham, Geoffrey; Verney, Susannah (1991). "The coalitions of 1989–90 in Greece: Inter‐party relations and democratic consolidation". West European Politics. 14 (4): 42–69. doi:10.1080/01402389108424876.