Right-wing politics

I have begun to wonder whether the term "extreme right" is the most suitable one for us to understand the wide range of politics adopted by significant sections of the population and which include radical, conservative (reactionary) concepts, extreme nationalism and nativism, the rejection of experts and institutions, suspicion towards local and foreign elites, and antagonism towards migrants a

A little-known political party endorsed by a jailed former lawmaker won seats in Greece's next parliament in an election Sunday, signaling a political comeback for the far right.

The far-right Spartiates (Spartans) party, which has been backed by jailed neo-Nazi Ilias Kasidiaris, looks set to cross the 3% threshold needed to make it into Parliament, with the latest exit polls showing it clinching as much as 5.6% of the vote.

Thursday's resolution was passed with the support of MPs of the governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) and the far-right Confederation alliance. During the vote, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced that the country would hold a referendum on the issue of relocating asylum seekers, which according to local media could take place on the same day as the autumn general election.

A far-right party banned from participating in the upcoming election has pledged support for a newly founded political group that received Supreme Court approval to field candidates.

It was the latest twist in Greece's volatile far-right politics that could have an impact on the upcoming election.

Ilias Kasidiaris, the former MP for the far-right Golden Dawn party, cannot stand as a candidate in the June 25 election, Greece's Supreme Court has ruled.

Kasidiaris and the party he founded, National Party-Greeks, had been banned from taking part in the previous national election, on May 21, because of a law targeting convicted Golden Dawn ex-MPs.

A rightwing party founded by a former Supreme Court deputy prosecutor has announced it will not contest the June 25 election.

Golden Dawn party MPs Nikos Michos (L), Ilias Panagiotaros (C) and Ilias Kasidiaris (R) walk away from the Court House of Athens, 2 October 2013. Photo: EPA/ALEXANDROS VLACHOS

Conservative New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis pushed for a second election after failing to win an outright majority in legislative elections held on May 21.

A constitutional lawyer dismissed on Thursday a claim by jailed former Golden Dawn deputy leader Ilias Kasidiaris that he could run in the next elections with a coalition of independent candidates, saying it is another effort to bypass a court ban on his party and candidacy. 

Jailed former Golden Dawn deputy leader, Ilias Kasidiaris, announced on Thursday he would will attempt to run as an independent candidate in the second Greek general elections that will likely take place on June 25.