Early parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 4 October 2009. Elections were not required until September 2011, but on 2 September 2009 Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis of New Democracy announced that he would request President Karolos Papoulias dissolve Parliament and call elections. Parliament was dissolved on 9 September.
The result was a victory for the opposition PASOK party led by George Papandreou, who became the new prime minister. New Democracy lost 61 of its 152 seats, with its vote share dropping by over 8 percentage points.
