June 2012 Greek legislative election

June 2012 Greek legislative election

← May 2012 17 June 2012 January 2015 →
All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament 151 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	9,947,876
Turnout	62.49% (2.63pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Antonis Samaras Alexis Tsipras Evangelos Venizelos Party ND Syriza PASOK Last election 18.85%, 108 seats 16.78%, 52 seats 13.18%, 41 seats Seats won 129 71 33 Seat change 21 19 8 Popular vote 1,825,497 1,655,022 756,024 Percentage 29.66% 26.89% 12.28% Swing 10.81pp 10.11pp 0.90pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   XA Leader Panos Kammenos Nikolaos Michaloliakos Fotis Kouvelis Party ANEL ΧΑ DIMAR Last election 10.61%, 33 seats 6.97%, 21 seats 6.11%, 19 seats Seats won 20 18 17 Seat change 13 3 2 Popular vote 462,406 426,025 384,986 Percentage 7.51% 6.92% 6.25% Swing 3.10pp 0.05pp 0.14pp   Seventh party   Leader Aleka Papariga Party KKE Last election 8.47%, 26 seats Seats won 12 Seat change 14 Popular vote 277,227 Percentage 4.50% Swing 3.95pp
Most voted-for party by electoral district
Interim Prime Minister before election Panagiotis Pikrammenos Independent Prime Minister after election Antonis Samaras ND

Legislative elections were held in Greece on Sunday, 17 June 2012,^[1] to elect all 300 members to the Hellenic Parliament in accordance with the constitution, after all attempts to form a new government failed following the May elections. If all attempts to form a new government fail, the constitution directs the president to dissolve a newly elected parliament, and then to call for new parliamentary elections within 30 days of the dissolution. The president announced at 16 May the date for the new election, and signed the formal decree to dissolve the parliament and call for the election at 19 May.

Compared to the previous elections a month earlier, the centre-right New Democracy and left-wing Syriza made significant gains to the detriment of all other parties. ND remained the largest party with 30% of the vote, while Syriza consolidated its gains and took 27%. Centre-left PASOK, which had suffered crushing losses in the previous election in May, failed to make any recovery. The right-wing populist Independent Greeks (ANEL) and Communist Party of Greece (KKE) declined, while the far-right Golden Dawn (XA) and the Democratic Left (DIMAR) stayed static in terms of vote share, though both lost seats.

No party achieved the 151 seats needed for an overall majority, though New Democracy held a strong plurality of 43% thanks to Greece's majority bonus system. As outlined by the constitution, the largest party led the first negotiations to try and form a new government. ND leader Antonis Samaras invited all elected parties to participate in a unity government which, while respecting the existing bailout agreement ratified in February 2012, would attempt to renegotiate the austerity terms of the agreement as its highest priority. Syriza rejected participation, but Samaras was ultimately able to form a coalition comprising ND, PASOK, and DIMAR on 20 June.^[2] He became Prime Minister in a cabinet of New Democracy politicians and several independent technocrats, two of whom were nominated by DIMAR, while PASOK chose to remain outside cabinet.^[3]