It was billed as one of Greece's most important elections since World War II. At stake: the future direction of a volatile democracy still haunted by the memory of a right-wing dictatorship, perhaps even the stability of NATO's southern flank. The campaign had been spectacular and occasionally ugly, a succession of mammoth rallies, fiery oratory and occasional mudslinging. When the political chorus finally fell silent last week, there was a faint sense of relief in Western capitals. The paradoxical reason: Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, 66, the charismatic Socialist whose belligerent rhetoric and obstructionist ways have tested alliance patience since 1981, was still securely in power.
With the ballots counted, Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) had taken 45.8% of the 6.4 million votes cast and gained a clear majority of 161 seats in the 300-member Parliament. The Socialists finished well ahead of the center-right New Democracy party, led by Constantine Mitsotakis, which won 40.8% and 126 seats. The other loser was the Moscow-lining Communist Party (known by its Greek initials K.K.E.), which emerged with 9.9% of the vote and twelve seats. Exultant, Papandreou termed the result of the balloting "a victory for the people and a defeat for reaction."
Among those who saluted the Prime Minister's triumph was Ronald Reagan. The West's foremost conservative expressed cautious hope that "our two governments can work effectively together to improve our relations, both bilaterally and within the alliance that assures our liberty and security." Papandreou told a postelection press conference in Athens that he had responded "warmly" to Reagan's words and that "it is not our intention to create unnecessary problems nor to worsen relations." But he also warned of problems that "cannot be wished away."
If the U.S. and its allies felt somewhat heartened by Papandreou's clear-cut success, it was because they had feared something worse, the emergence of a minority PASOK government, with the Communists holding the balance of parliamentary power. The Communists have frequently attacked Papandreou for failing to remove four U.S. military bases from Greece (the leases for the facilities, which are important for NATO's Mediterranean defense, come up for renewal in December 1988). Papandreou's triumph guaranteed that, as a French analyst put it, "there can be no Communist blackmail."
For Papandreou, the victory was perhaps the sweetest in his 22-year political career and a vindication of sorts for his populist brand of socialism. In the final stages of the campaign, the Prime Minister pragmatically stressed his party's social welfare achievements. He rarely fell back on the bluff and bluster that after his first election four years ago he frequently employed against the U.S., NATO and the ten-nation European Community, which Greece joined in 1981.
In the end, with New Democracy in disarray and the Communists chastened, Papandreou emerged as a more powerful leader than before. Said a longtime Greek ambassador: "Now he can do whatever he likes with Greece. He may wake up some morning with a headache and decide to take us out of NATO."