The Greek far-right political party known as Greeks Party has been banned from participating in Greece’s upcoming general election, according to a report by AP News.
Greece’s Supreme Court made the decision on Tuesday according to new legal amendments adopted by Parliament in February which disqualify parties led by politicians convicted of serious offences or ones that would not “serve the free functioning of (Greece’s) democratic constitution.”
Under these terms, the Greeks Party are not allowed to participate in the May 21 election due to the former imprisonment of the party’s leader, Ilias Kasidiaris.
Kasidiaris founded the Greeks Party after receiving a 13-year prison sentence in 2020.
He was convicted as a leading member of an extreme right party, Golden Dawn, which was blamed for multiple attacks against migrants and left-wing political activists.
The party was founded as a neo-Nazi group in the 1980s but later claimed to represent a broader nationalist ideology.
The Supreme Court held a 9-1 decision and the new ban is said to affect the outcome of the election as the winning party would likely have an easier time forming a new government with fewer parties represented in the national legislature.
Source: AP News
