The Greek constitutional crisis of 1985 was the first constitutional dispute to occur in the newly formed Third Hellenic Republic after the fall of the country's military government in 1974. The crisis arose following a political gamble by the Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, who suddenly announced he would not support the re-election of Konstantinos Karamanlis, President of Greece, for a second term. Papandreou had proposed constitutional amendments that would further increase the powers of the Prime Minister by reducing the presidential powers, which were acting as checks and balances against the executive branch.
Papandreou supported the presidential candidacy of Supreme Court justice Christos Sartzetakis, who was popular with left-leaning voters for his investigation of the politically motivated murder of Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. The Hellenic Parliament elected Sartzetakis amid tensions and confrontations stemming from constitutionally questionable procedures initiated by Papandreou. The opposition, New Democracy, Karamanlis' former party that was led by Konstantinos Mitsotakis, deemed the vote illegal and threatened to remove Sartzetakis from the presidency if New Democracy won the upcoming elections, intensifying the crisis.
The polarized confrontation continued into the general election campaigns. Sartzetakis' election to the presidency helped Papandreou and his socialist party PASOK win the general election despite Papandreou's failure to address Greece's economic decline. After the election, all political parties accepted Sartzetakis as president, ending the constitutional crisis. The Greek constitutional amendment of 1986 transformed the liberal democracy of Greece based on the constitution of 1975 into a populist democracy with a majoritarian parliamentary system and a prime minister acting as a "parliamentary autocrat".
Soon after the constitutional amendments took effect, Papandreou's premiership was engulfed by corruption scandals, the most significant of which was the Koskotas scandal. With no constitutional restraints, Papandreou abused his position to prevent the Koskotas case from advancing in the courts, and he promised to deplete the state's finances to his loyal supporters. After losing the June 1989 general election, a coalition government consisting of conservative New Democracy and united leftist parties under Synaspismos, indicted Papandreou and four of his ministers. The new government also ended the state's monopoly on the mass media, and partially dismantled the state's surveillance capabilities to prevent any future prime minister from exploiting them for political advantage. Since then, constitutional scholars have suggested partially reversing the removal of presidential powers to mitigate the negative effects of majoritarian politics while avoiding potential conflicts between the president and prime minister.
Brief history of Constitutional crises in Greece
Early constitutional struggles
Since gaining independence in 1821, modern Greece has experienced persistent instability. Early governments were weak and burdened by debt from the independence struggle, while rivalries among elites and limited political cohesion led to conflict with Prime Minister Ioannis Kapodistrias, ending in his assassination. Soon after, foreign creditors and the European Great Powers imposed a foreign monarchy with absolute authority. Throughout the 19th century, tensions deepened between citizens seeking broader political participation and elites aligned with the crown and external interests, contributing to repeated military interventions and a series of coups into the 20th century.
Early military movements secured reforms, notably the 3 September 1843 Revolution, which established a constitutional monarchy. The 1909 Goudi coup brought Eleftherios Venizelos to power, modernized the country and expanded its territory. However, his clash with King Constantine I over Greece's entry into World War I divided Greek society and the armed forces, and became known as the National Schism. This turmoil produced a short-lived republic (1924–1935) before the monarchy was restored, followed by further authoritarian rule under Ioannis Metaxas in 1936.
Conservative rule (1946–1963) The Axis occupation of Greece in World War II and the 1944–49 Civil War between the Communist-led uprising against the monarchist establishment caused severe economic damage and deep social divisions. After martial law ended, weak post-civil-war governments relied heavily on U.S. aid through the Marshall Plan and focused on containing communism during the Cold War. Political dialogue in the following decades revolved around shifting power from the right to the center, however, reconciliation remained a lower priority than economic reconstruction. Shifting control of the military from the king to the elected government was another difficult subject.
The 1952 Constitution, though based on that of 1911, was effectively a new constitution. It established a parliamentary monarchy with the monarch as head of state and the army, based on the principle of the separation of powers. The prime minister was elected as the leader of the government and to carry out executive functions. However, the king retained significant powers to control the government, including the power to dissolve parliament and appoint and dismiss ministers. The latter led to confusion since two prime ministers in the 1950s asked whether the king or the prime minister governed the country, echoing the disagreements between Venizelos and Constantine I during the National Schism.
From 1955 to 1963, the governorship of Konstantinos Karamanlis brought relative stability and economic prosperity to Greece. He also sought to reduce the monarch's prerogatives but failed to gain sufficient political support to overcome the king's resistance. By the early 1960s, repressive postwar policies were increasingly questioned, especially after the death of left-wing Member of Parliament (MP) Grigoris Lambrakis, which implicated state officials in the assassination or in its cover-up. Although not blamed, Karamanlis resigned and went into self-exile in France.
Rise of center-left and friction with the king Georgios Papandreou and his political party, Center Union, had a moderate reformist platform; it gained considerable traction and rose to power in the parliamentary elections of 1963 and 1964. Papandreou advocated for the liberalization of Greek society, which was rapidly urbanizing, resulting in large salary increases for police, judges, and teachers. Papandreou's government also released all political prisoners as a first step toward reconciliation from the Civil War. Resentment toward Papandreou from the military grew because they were excluded from salary increases. He also attempted to bring parts of the military that operated independently under government control. This action alarmed many officers without weakening them. Papandreou's move created friction with King Constantine II, who wanted the monarchy to retain command of the army.
At the same time, the son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas Papandreou, who had joined Greek politics after a 23-year academic career in the United States, was campaigning on an anti-monarchy and anti-American platform, destabilizing the political equilibrium. Andreas Papandreou's uncompromising militant stance made him a target of conspiratorial accusations from ultra-rightists, who feared that following new elections, which the nearly 80-year-old Georgios Papandreou would likely win, his son would be the focus of power in the party. These incidents caused a dispute between Georgios Papandreou and King Constantine II, leading to the resignation of the former.
For the next twenty-two months, Greece had no elected government, and hundreds of demonstrations took place, with many being injured and killed in clashes with the police. The king, potentially acting within his constitutional rights but politically dubious approach, tried to gain support from members of the Center Union party and form a government, leading to the Iouliana (July events) of 1965. Constantine temporarily succeeded in gaining the support of 45 members, including Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who were later called "apostates" by supporters of the elder Papandreous. To end the political deadlock, Georgios Papandreou attempted a more-moderate approach with the king, but Andreas Papandreou publicly rejected his father's effort and attacked the whole establishment, attracting the support of 41 Center Union members in an effort to gain the party's leadership and prevent any compromise.
The prolonged political instability between the parliament and the monarchy led to a military coup in which a junta of colonels seized power and ruled Greece for seven years. The junta expelled prominent political figures, including Andreas Papandreou, Mitsotakis, and King Constantine. The political world almost universally blamed Andreas Papandreou, and even his father disowned him, as the person primarily responsible for the end of Greek democracy. In exile, the younger Papandreou, cut off from those working for the restoration of democracy in Greece, developed and disseminated an anti-American, conspiratorial narrative of events in which he was a victim of larger forces. Following the junta's collapse, caused by its failure to handle the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the dominant political figure, Karamanlis, returned to restore democratic institutions in Greece.
Restoration of democracy and Constitution of 1975
Return of Karamanlis With the return of civilian rule under Karamanlis, the new government issued a "Constituting Act" that voided the junta's Constitution of 1973. Pending a referendum on a new constitution, the 1952 constitution was temporarily restored, "except for the articles dealing with the form of the State"; the last phrase referred to whether the monarchy would be restored. In the meantime, the functions of the monarch were to be carried out by the incumbent President, Phaedon Gizikis, whom the junta had appointed as a nominal figurehead.
Features of the new constitution and first objections In the November 1974 parliamentary election, Karamanlis received 54.37% of the vote and a mandate to set the foundations of the new state. In the following month's republic referendum, 69% of voters chose a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, effectively ending 150 years of monarchical rule. This led to the foundation of the Third Hellenic Republic with the new Constitution of 1975, which reinforced the executive branch's power, represented by the prime minister, while the president would act as the head of state with sufficient reserve powers, the right to call elections, appoint a government, dissolve Parliament, and call referendums on important national questions. The president could also veto any legislation that did not reflect the popular will, and this veto could only be overturned by a three-fifths parliamentary majority. The presidential powers, which exceeded those of the monarch under the 1952 Constitution, were inspired by the recent Gaullism reforms in France.
Despite vocal resistance from leftist parties, which wanted a purely parliamentary system with a ceremonial president, Karamanlis insisted these powers would act as checks and balances to avoid an omnipotent prime minister who could accumulate executive and legislative powers with no restraint. Parliament adopted the new constitution and it was promulgated on 11 June 1975. Andreas Papandreou, along with the communists, boycotted the promulgation; he publicly described it as "totalitarian", advocating instead for a socialist constitution.
Reforms by Karamanlis