On 16 December 1923 new elections were called in which the Liberals were victorious by an overwhelming majority, but without the participation of the Royalists who opted for abstention. Three days later, King George left the country while Pavlos Kountouriotis was appointed Regent. A short time after this, Venizelos, responding to the mass appeals of those of his supporters who had returned to the country, consolidated - at least outwardly - his electoral success.
The tempestuous clashes that occurred during the 4th Constitutional Assembly between Venizelos and Papanastasiou (by now leader of the anti-Royalist party and leader of the party of Republic Union), indicated the tendency for party swings within the ruling party. With the resignation of Venizelos and the ensuing split of his party, Papanastasiou took over the leadership and put into effect the process by which the royal dynasty would be officially deposed.
On 25 March 1924, the National Assembly proclaimed Greece a Republic while shortly after, on 13 April, the plebiscite with an overwhelming percentage (69.5%) condoned the change of constitution. The leader of the People's Party, Panayis Tsaldaris, refused to accept it, a fact that resulted in the non-recognition (by all except Ioannis Metaxas) of the constitutional change by the anti-Venizelist bloc.