On 27 February 1958, there was a major internal party crisis in the ERE as Konstantinos Karamanlis promoted an electoral law that stipulated that the first party would receive a bonus that would increase its parliamentary power over the third party, which would be weakened. .

His initiative provoked a reaction from the EDA, as well as the leaders of the ERE itself, such as Georgios Rallis and Panagis Papaligouras, who resigned from their ministerial posts.

Another 13 deputies of the party followed the same path, as a result of which the Karamanlis government lost its parliamentary majority.

The ensuing political crisis led to the sudden dissolution of parliament and the announcement by Konstantinos Karamanlis of elections for 11 May.

“The main characteristic of yesterday is that Athens, Piraeus and its environs did not participate in the vote – as in any other election – because all wheeled vehicles were freely allowed.

This is how the world moved, and precisely because all the centers (cafes, confectioneries, etc.) were closed, the streets, the park, the garden, the groves and the districts were flooded.

And foreign tourists, who, as always, move in large numbers, yesterday for the first time, as before, did not understand that something extraordinary was happening.

Everywhere there was order, decency, seriousness. Without fanaticism, with full awareness of their responsibility to themselves and to each other, everyone voted for the hope for a better tomorrow, “Kathimerini writes the day after the election.

In terms of results, ERE once again secured a comfortable parliamentary majority with 42.2% of the vote and 171 seats.

EDA came in second with 24.4% of the vote.

This was a special moment for the post-war institutional structure, as the left was now the official opposition.

The biggest loser in the 1958 election was the Liberal Party, which came in third with a meager parliamentary weight of 36 seats.

On May 17, Konstantinos Karamanlis will form his third successive government, now free from intra-party rivalry and disputes.