GREEK ELECTIONS

Evening Star, Issue 25750, 25 March 1946, Page 5

GREEK ELECTIONS

OVER 1,000 CANDIDATES MOSTLY OF RIGHTIST COMPLEXION (Rec. 11.35 a.m.) LONDON, Mar. 24. More than 1,000 candidates, representing 15 to 16 parties, have been nominated in Greece for the general election on March 31, says. lleuter's Athens correspondent. All parties are of more or less Rightist complexion except the Centre Republican Liberal Party, led by M. Sofoulis. It is thought they may gain a number of votes from Republican Left Wing groups belonging to the Left Wing parties boycotting the polls. Other parties in the field fall into two separate blocks: First, the Populists, supported by the eight minor Royalist parties: secondly, the " National Union " Coalition, led by three ex-Premiers M. Papandreou, M. Venizelos, and M. Cancellopolous. The National Union Coalition made its appearance as the result of the amalgamation of the three Conservative parties—Social Democrats, Unionists, and Venizelist Liberals, hithero led respectively by the three ex-Premiers named. This anti-Communist coalition so far has not declared whether it favours the monarchy or a republic. The ultra-Royalist X organisation, which ranks as a political party, although armed bands operating under its colours are illegal, has about 50 candidates. Many Independents are also standing. King George of the Hellenes, in a message of the people for Greek Independence Day (March 25), said: "I desire the Greek people to express their sovereign will with dignity, recognising that violence and extreme acts are the arms of the enemies of Greece." He added that Greece should be ready to face international conditions in which the " protection of the interests of small States would be difficult."