Published 9 February 2023 at 16.49
Foreign. Greece's Nationalist Party is banned from participating in this year's elections, which are expected to take place in April, AP reports.
Like the article på Facebook
In recent polls, the anti-immigration party has approached the threshold of three percent required to gain representation in parliament.
The pretext for the ban is that Ilias Kasidiaris, who founded the party for two years ago, currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for being a leading figure in the Golden Dawn party, which Greek authorities have previously labeled a criminal organization.
The decision to ban the Nationalist Party from running the election was made by the competing parties in Greece's parliament.
Organisation Minister Takis Theodorikakos defended the decision on state television on Thursday:
– The government was right to respond to a demand from a large majority of Greeks citizens: to exclude a party led by a convicted member of a criminal organization.
Elections in Greece are expected to be held in April. The current liberal government coalition leads in the opinion polls, but it looks like it will be difficult to achieve a majority.