The Union of the Democratic Centre ( el, Ένωση Δημοκρατικού Κέντρου, abbr. ΕΔΗΚ, ''Enosi Dimokratikou Kentrou'', ''EDIK'') is a social liberal

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. The party was founded on 5 February 1976, two years after the end of the Greek military junta of 1967–74, asserting itself to be the ideological successor of the pre-1967

Centre Union The Centre Union ( el, Ἕνωσις Κέντρου ''Énōsis Kéntrou'', abbreviated ΕΚ) was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40 History The Centre Union was a politi ...

party. EDIK was the result of the merger of

Centre Union – New Forces Centre Union – New Forces (EK-ND, Greek: ''Ένωσις Κέντρου-Νέες Δυνάμεις'' (Ε.Κ. – Ν.Δ.), ''Enosi Kentrou-Nees Dynameis'') was the continuation of the Centre Union party of George Papandreou after the military j ...

and the Democratic Centre Union of

Ioannis Zidgis Ioannis or Ioannes ( el, Ιωάννης), shortened to Giannis or Yannis (Γιάννης) is a Greek given name cognate with Johannes and John and the Arabic name Yahya . Notable people with the name include: * Ioannis I, Tzimiskis, Byzantine Emp ...

. Its party leader at the time was George Mavros who earlier led the Center Union – New Forces; Mavros, though, would join the

Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...

(PASOK) a couple of years later. The party was led by Zidgis in the early 1980s, and has since adopted more social-democratic positions. With the Greek political spectrum shifting to the left, EDIK was increasingly marginalized, with PASOK replacing it as the country's second major party. The party's support collapsed in the elections of 1981, when it gained 0.7% of the vote and was shut out of Parliament. However, George Mavros was elected as an independent on a PASOK ticket, and again in 1985, when EDIK and PASOK officially co-operated. In 1989, EDIK ran independently and did not elect any representatives in parliament. From 1998 to 2011, the party president was

Neoklis Sarris Neoklis Sarris ''( Greek:'' '' Νεοκλής Σαρρής)'' was a Greek Academic, Jurist and Politician. He was born in Istanbul on 5 May 1940, and died in Athens on 19 November 2011 from cancer. Education Neoklis Sarris was a graduate of the ...

, and the party operated mostly as a forum of political analysis and public, ideological debates. In the 2009 legislative elections Neoklis Sarris ran for

Democratic Revival The Democratic Revival (''Greek: Δημοκρατική Αναγέννηση Dimokratiki Anagenissi'') is a political party in Greece, initially founded in 2004 by Stelios Papathemelis. It was deactivated after its leader participated in the le ...

. In 2012 the Union of the Democratic Centre was reconstructed.

Stavros Karabelas Stavros Karampelas is a Greek politician and currently the President of the Greek political party Enosi Dimokratikou Kentrou ( Union of the Democratic Centre). Biography He was born in Petroupoli (Athens) in July 1973. He studied Political Sci ...

was elected new president of the party and shifted the political characteristics of the party to the left. Consequently, in the May 2012 election the party participated as part of the

Coalition of the Radical Left The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

(SYRIZA).

Leaders

* George Mavros *

Elections

* 1977 – 12 seats * 1981 – 1 seat * 1985 – 1 seat

External links

EDIK movement
Liberal parties in Greece Social democratic parties in Greece Radical parties Social liberal parties Political parties established in 1976 Centrist parties in Greece Components of Syriza {{Greece-party-stub