The elections were quickly denounced by both main opposition parties, the leftist
United Democratic Left (campaigning as part of the
All-Democratic Agricultural Front) and the
Centre Union. They refused to recognise the result because of the numerous cases of
voter intimidation and irregularities, such as sudden massive increases in support for ERE against historical patterns and the voting by deceased persons. The Centre Union alleged that the election result had been staged by the agents of the shadowy
deep state (παρακράτος), including the army leadership, the
Greek Central Intelligence Service and the notoriously right-wing
National Guard Defence Battalions, according to a prepared emergency plan codenamed Pericles (Σχέδιο «Περικλής»). Although irregularities certainly occurred, the existence of Pericles was never proven, and it is uncertain that the interference in the elections had radically influenced the outcome. Nevertheless, Centre Union leader
George Papandreou initiated an "unrelenting struggle" ("ανένδοτος αγών") until new and fair elections were held.[2] Thus, the 1961 elections became known in the Greek political history as the "elections of violence and fraud" (εκλογές της βίας και νοθείας).