Ilias Kasidiaris

With elections looming, YouTube has become the main platform through which jailed former Golden Dawn official Ilias Kasidiaris is conducting his campaign, despite a recent amendment passed by Parliament which aims to ban the participation of his the National Party-The Greeks.

The way the Greek political system handled a major institutional and political issue such as banning the party formed by Ilias Kasidiaris, the former Golden Dawn lawmaker who is serving a 13-year prison sentence for membership in a criminal organization, was not only not exemplary, but it is likely to lead to a strengthening of the appeal of the anti-systemic extreme right.

With the Supreme Court having launched the proceedings sanctioned by a parliamentary amendment to increase the number of judges in the special chamber that will decide the electoral fate of the extreme-right party of jailed Ilias Kasidiaris, there was fresh political fallout on Wednesday after the top court's former vice president Christos Tzanerikos, who resigned last week, claimed the governm

Main leftist opposition SYRIZA has once again failed to meet expectations by abstaining from a crucial vote in Parliament. The vote aimed to prevent the far-right political party founded by jailed MP Ilias Kasidiaris from participating in the country's upcoming elections. Only New Democracy and PASOK supported the amendment in question.

Ilias Kasidiaris, a former Golden Dawn MP who was given a 13-year jail; sentence, presents arguments for suspending the sentence at an appeal court in Athens, 16 October 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/PANTELIS SAITAS

The Greek parliament on Tuesday passed a new amendment to recent legislation to ensure the far-right Greeks-National party cannot participate in elections due in May.

A legal dispute involving the government's attempt to prevent a far-right political party from running in the general election scheduled for next month led to the resignation of a vice president of Greece's Supreme Court on Monday. 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has appealed to all democratic forces to agree and vote in favor of a fresh government measure to ban a far-right political party from participating in next month's general election.

Christos Tzanerikos, the Vice President of the Supreme Court, has stepped down from his position after criticizing a government amendment that sought to strengthen a ban on the Greek National Party (Ellines) from participating in the upcoming May 21 general election.

A retired senior prosecutor in Greece was named Friday as the new leader of a far-right party as it seeks to sidestep a ban on its participation in an upcoming general election.

The Greek government plans to introduce a legislative provision aimed at blocking the Greek National Party (Ellines), a far-right party founded by former MP Ilias Kasidiaris, from participating in the upcoming elections. 

On Thursday, government spokesperson Ioannis Oikonomou announced that this provision would be added to the final bill to be voted on before Easter.