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.
The plebiscite is believed to have been planned by Konstantinos Athanopoulos long before his death in an attempt to regain the validation of the population by seeking a new "term" in front of the military junta. However, many sources from inside the executive have later acknowledged that many of the military leadership considered it unjust and greatly personalist. Due to this, the plebiscite was never confirmed by Athanopoulos; but the death of the general in 1978 changed the junta's considerations, which feared a crack in the political censorship fueled by the idea that the dictator was dead.
To prevent this, the General of the Air Ioannis Christodoulopoulos and the members the military junta refloated the consideration of allowing a plebiscite to grant the Christodoulopoulos with a new term and the people's legitimacy. In February of 1979, the Organic Law that allowed political parties to be formed was passed and the first organisations of the right —New Force and People's Party— were enrolled in the registry. In the core of the left, a debate existed of whether or not adhering to the regime imposed by the law, but ultimately, most of them concluded that it was beneficial in the given context; the first organisations that enrolled were Progressive Federation, Democratic Socialism and Humanist Centre, with the still outlawed Piraese Socialist Workers Union playing a crucial role adhering under the PSEE-Samariá Front and PSEE-Historical labels.
For the first time in Piraea's electoral history, the television played a crucial role, with party political broadcasts being granted for each option; the first spots were presented during the first days of June and each were allowed a duration of 15 minutes maximum. The campaigns in television were radically different, with the option of the "No" presenting a more emotive stance linked to happiness and democracy, and the "Yes" focusing in the fear and instability of the previous republic, with the contrast of the economic miracle and an almost personality cult of Athanopoulos and Christodoulopoulos. The "No" campaign was also famous for the use of Piraean celebrities and international stars, such as Themistoklis Stavrallis, Pia Poupou and others; the "Yes" used a similar concept, but with personalities linked to the sports world that expressed a patriotic sentiment. The broadcast of the "No" of the day 10 June was censored and forbidden of being broadcasted due to the fact that it was based in the testimony of an exiled student in Verlois referring to the torture he suffered and the forced disappearance of his colleagues; as a response, the "Yes" was also banned from broadcasting that day, granting the equal time in television.
The campaigns concluded during 2nd of June; the "No" carried out one of the largest mass marches in Piraea towards Alikianos, which mobilised people from the southernmost Lampi and the northernmost Samariá to the capital city. During the march, many people was intimidated by pro-Yes groups and paramilitary forces, causing violent clashes along the week-long march. In Alikianos, a concert was offered in one of the largest mass demonstrations of Piraea. The option for the "Yes" concluded the campaign with a mass rally in front of the Palace of the Piraean Court.
| Option | Parties and alliances |
Candidate or leading face |
Gov. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
Ioannis Christodoulopoulos | 
| ||
|
 |
Andrianos Rodiales [a] | 
| ||
Televised debates and interviews
One televised debate was allowed by the military junta, with the condition that the representative of the miltiary executive was not going to be Ioannis Christodoulopoulos; in his place, Nicolaos Stamatiades, who back then occupied the portfolio of Foreign Affairs as a civic member, debated against Andrianos Rodiales. In addition to being the first political debate in Piraea and the first time an opponent of the military junta was broadcasted by the public television since the start of the dictatorship, the debate was also a rating hit and it was predicted that 87.3% of the population followed it in some way.
Two interviews were also granted to the Piraean Radio and Television, one with Rodiales and a second and last one with Christodoulopoulos.
| 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
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
|
|
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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: Ministry of Interior and Information | |||
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.