The Union of the Democratic Centre (, ''Enosi Dimokratikou Kentrou'', ''EDIK'') is a
social liberal
Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
.
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 party. EDIK was the result of the merger of
Centre Union – New Forces and the
Democratic Centre Union of
Ioannis Zidgis. 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 (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was one of the two major parties in the country, along with New Democracy, its main political r ...
(PASOK) a couple of years later. The party was led by Zidgis in the early 1980s, and has since adopted more
social-democratic
Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
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
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
, 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, 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. In 2012 the Union of the Democratic Centre was reconstructed.
Stavros Karabelas 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 (SYRIZA).
Leaders
*
George Mavros (1976-1977)
*
Ioannis Zidgis (1977-1997)
*
Neoklis Sarris (1998-2011)
*
Stavros Karabelas (2012-today)
Elections
* 1977 – 16 seats
* 1985 – 1 seat
External links
*
{{Europe-liberal-party-stub
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