The biggest political change occurred in Greece after the general election held on May 6, 2012, in which the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and New Democracy (ND) – who had joined in a grand coalition in November 2011 headed by Mr. Lucas Papademos, the former European Central Bank (ECB) vice-president – lost by wide margins.
Since no political party won an absolute majority of seats, President Karolos Papoulias attempted to offer successive exploratory mandates to the leaders of the three main parties in accordance with the constitution. However, each party ended up failing to form a government and returning their mandates to the president.