1979 Piraean national plebiscite
| 1979 Piraean national plebiscite | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Continuation of Ioannis Christodoulopoulos and the rest of the Junta | |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 5 July 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||
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No
The 1979 Piraean national plebiscite (Piraean: 1979 Εθνικό δημοψήφισμα της Πειραεάς) was a referendum conducted in Piraea during July 1979, in which the electorate was asked about the continuation of Ioannis Christodoulopoulos and the military junta as Head of State and Government.
The referendum was conducted a year after the death of Konstantinos Athanopoulos, who ruled the Second Piraean Republic as a military dictatorship. That same year, the members of the military junta voted Ioannis Christodoulopoulos, who occupied the role of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, to be the Premier and sought to renew their term in power through the plebiscite. If the population approved the candidate of the junta and voted "Yes", the military institution would continue exercising as the executive, but if the result proved negative, a newly elected office and legislature would have been needed to be voted. Finally, the "No" to the candidate of the junta won by a 56% of the vote, igniting a process known as "Metapolitefsi" (Piraean: Μεταπολίτευση) or "regime change", which concluded with the general elections of 1980.
It is believed that international pressure from other Euclean nations and Piraean big business were crucial in the decision of the junta of respecting the results, as Piraea was one of the few remaining dictatorships of East Euclea.
Background
During the mid-1960s and 1970s, Piraea experienced an economic miracle often credited to the program of economic liberalisation carried out by the military government following Global Institute for Fiscal Affairs and International Council for Democracy advice and funding. Although the reforms proved efficient in Piraea's exit from recession, dissident voices became more prominent criticising persistent political censorship and repression as well as a growing income inequalities. Towards the end of the decade, political demonstration from leftist groups (often in clandestine) became more usual, and the Piraean exile reconducted international observation to their cause.
In 1978, Konstantinos Athanopoulos, who ruled the Second Piraean Republic as a military dictator of Functionalist background, died in his palace of Alikianos. Athanopoulos had previously ordered that the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Ioannis Christodoulopoulos, would succeed him in the position of Premier in the Junta. The military executive invested Christodoulopoulos as Premier, but sought to acquire the legitimacy of the people's vote in order to confirm the continuity of the military rule.
Electorate
The electorate for the plebiscite has been severely studied by Piraean sociologists and political analysts. The plebiscite is believed to have inaugurated an important mark in the country's politics and electoral history, with similar results by region and municipality across the elections. The electoral process was the first to be conducted after 30 years of severe political and social repression: it was also one of the first elections in which the vote of the women was specially sought after and counted with an important influence in the final results.
Options that aligned under the campaign of the "Yes" (Ναι) were often connected to the upper and upper-middle classes, generally linked with the military government or the business world (the campaign used the economic stability and secureness as one of its slogans) and students' and youth groups of far-right background. Although the Episemialist Church did not expressed opinion, it is widely known that priests and patriarchs of the Metropolitanate of Piraea showed a preferable option for the continuity of the military junta. In the vote of the "No" (Όχι), groups close to the left and centre-left participated in the campaign which targeted an electorate of all social classes and education levels. However, most of them often came from relatives of kidnapped citizens, exiled people and the general population looking for a democratic change.
The femenine vote was considered crucial in both options. On the pro-junta sector, the Women Movement for Piraea, a social movement of wives and Piraese women of upper class-background and conservative ideology, called for the feminine vote for Christodoulopoulos arguing the "protection of the family, the values and our sons". The opposition counted with the support of most active feminist movements, but was crucial in transmitting the voice of mothers and spouses that were leading the investigation of their sons, daughters and husbands that were forcibly disappeared.
Plebiscite
Subject to the ratification of the citizenship, the Executive Military Junta proposes the General of the Air Ioannis Christodoulopoulos for a term of 8 years as Premier of the Piraean Republic.
| Option | Parties and alliances |
Candidate or leading face |
Gov. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
Ioannis Christodoulopoulos | 
| ||
|
 |
Andrianos Rodiales [a] | 
| ||
Televised debates and interviews
| 1979 Piraean national plebiscite debates and interviews | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Broadcaster | Moderator(s) | Participants — Name Participant N Party not invited/did not participate NI Not invited | Notes | |
| "Yes" (Ναι) | "No" (Όχι) | ||||
| 5 June 1979 | ΠΡΤ 1 | Chirstoforos Contou | Nicolaos Stamatides | Andrianos Rodiales | [b] |
| 19 June 1979 | ΠΡΤ 1 | Chirstoforos Contou | NI | Andrianos Rodiales | |
| 23 June 1979 | ΠΡΤ 1 | Chirstoforos Contou | Ioannis Christodoulopoulos | NI | |
Opinion polls
Results
| Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Yes" (Ναι) | 2,336,996 | 43.84 | |
| "No" (Όχι) Proposal rejected | 2,993,490 | 56.16 | |
| Total | 5,330,486 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 5,330,486 | 76.06 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,678,027 | 23.94 | |
| Total votes | 7,008,513 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,151,089 | 98.01 | |
| Source: Electoral Court | |||
Aftermath
Notes
- ↑ The "No" option was not allowed a candidate in the plebiscite, and thus Andrianos Rodiales is generally considered the face that led most of the public appearences during the campaign and also the two debates/interviews.
- ↑ Because Ioannis Christodoulopoulos refused to present to the debate, the civic member of the military executive, Nicolaos Stamatiades, was the face of the military junta during the debate.