The Greek government voted in Parliament House on Wednesday to ban the Greek National Party from running in the elections this year.
Leader of the far-right political party, Ilias Kasidiaris, was convicted of a serious criminal offence and is serving a 13-year sentence in jail.
According to AP News, Greek lawmakers voted for the far-right political party to be disqualified from the election later this year. The amendment was approved by the majority in the 300-seat house on Wednesday evening.
According to a statement, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “No one in this room wants to go through, to see again… the parliamentary representation of a few becoming a vehicle of violence against citizens leading to brutal murders and injuries.”
The far-right party was established in 2020 by Mr Kasidiaris, a former leading member of Golden Dawn, a criminal gang linked to hate crimes with neo-Nazi origins, waging a campaign of violence against migrants and ideological opponents.
Greek Public Order Minister, Takis Theodorikakos, said in an interview on Thursday that it was necessary to ban the Greek National Party from the election this year.
“The Government did the right thing by responding to a demand from a vast majority of Greek citizens: to exclude a party led by a convicted member of a criminal organisation,” Minister Theodorikakos said.
Source: AP News
