Evening star., 1950-03-06
PIastiras Of Leftists
Emerges as Power
In Greek Ba|Iotinq
Holds Slender Margin
Over Two Old Parties;
Moderate Coalition SeeI
By the Associated Press

! ATHENS. Mar. 6.-Gen. Mich
oils Plastiras, a moustachioed ole
warrior who drove King Constan-
tine into exile in 1922. emerged
today from yesterdays national
elections as a powerful new leftist
force in Greek politics.
With nearly one-half of the
votes counted, Gen. PlastiraS' Ma
tional Progressive Union held a
slender lead over the country's S
two big traditional parties-for-
mer Premier Constantin Tsaldaris
Conservative Populists (royalists)
and Sophocles Venizelos' moder-
ate Liberals.
Another new leftist party. the
Republican Front headed by for
mer Foreign Minister John Sophi-
anopoulos, polled a sizable vote
that surprised most observers.
Conservative politicians said that
| Communists - whose party was
outlawed as result of the civil
war that ended last fall-turned
their support to the leftist parties.
Moderate Coalition Expected.
The two leftist parties. with
about one-half of the 1000 pre-
cincts heard from, held % per
cent of the votes-a clear indi-
cation that no single party would
gain a majority of Parliament's S
$50 seats. Another moderate
coalition-like the II governments
that have ruled Greece since the
war-was expected to be formed.
Results for the six leading par
ties-a total of 26 are running
compiled from Ministry of the
Interior reports on 1,506 out OF
1000 precincts:
! National Progressive Union Qed
by Gen. Plastiras and former
Premier Emmanuel Tsouderos)
120,513.
/ Liberals (Venizelos), lit ,666.
Populists (Tsaldaris), 114,963.
Republican Front (Sophiano-
poulos), 74.768.
Social Democrats led by George
Papandreou). 67,858.
Independent Political Front lex
treme right wing party led by
Constantine Maniadakis and Con-
stantine Kotzias), 48,876.
Votes from the 1,5O6 precincts
totaled 100000 out of an estimated
100000 cast in yesterdays elec-
ton.
146,000 Soldiers Vote.
Since Greece elects deputies un-
der the proportional representa-
ton system, all of the leading
parties will have a substantial
delegation in the new Parliament.
The army vote-146, 900 soldiers
cast ballots in special polling
places-may be- the decisive force
in the election. First returns from
the army gave Mr.. Tsaldaris' Pop
ulistS and Mr.. Venizelos' Liberals
heavy votes.
y! When the leftist gains became
apparent, Police Chief Angelo
Evert announced gatherings in
Athens would be prohibited today
The order was believed aimed at
preventing any leftwing demon
strations.
Gen. Plastiras, dubbed the
"black rider" by the Turks whom
he fought in the Greco Turkish
War after World War I, has had a
colorful career in Greek politics.
He headed revolutionary com:
mittee that forced King Constan-
tine to abdicate in 1922.
In 1888 he set himself up as
a dictator in coup d'etat. But
his regime lasted only one day.
He fled abroad and was sentenced
to death in absentia. He returned
to Greece in December, 1914, when
the Germans were driven out, and
| served as Prime Minister from
January to April in 1945.
Until he teamed up with En-
manuel Tsouderos, Premier of the
Greek government in exile during
the war. to form the National
Progressive Union, Gen. Plastiras
had little active part in recent
Greek politics