After the release of Ilias Kasidiaris from Domokos prison his lawyer Vaso Panaji said that a new parliamentary association of independent deputies could be formed in the near future.
Ilias Kasidiaris was released from Domokos prison on September 15 after serving his sentence in connection with the criminal organization Golden Dawn. Immediately after his release, he announced his intention to return to active politics.
Negotiations are already underway
His lawyer Vaso Panaji said contacts were already underway with independent MPs, including former representatives of the Spartans party, as well as people associated with the Niki party.
According to her, it is planned to create a parliamentary group or a broader political formation of independent deputies. However, she claims that Kasidiaris does not intend to cooperate with independent deputies who were previously members of New Democracy, and has no relation to the possible future project of Antonis Samaras.
Panaji also directly named the potential audience for the future project – part of the voters of Aphroditi Latinopoulou and Kyriakos Velopoulos. Thus, we are actually talking about an attempt to redistribute votes on the right and extreme right flank of Greek politics.
But there is a serious legal obstacle
Kasidiaris himself cannot yet simply register a new political formation and freely participate in elections with it.
Greek electoral law allows the Supreme Court to exclude parties from elections if it is determined that their effective leadership is associated with persons convicted of certain serious crimes, including participation in or leadership of a criminal organization.
It is on this basis that political projects associated with Kasidiaris have already been blocked before the 2023 elections. Lawyers emphasize that his release from prison does not in itself eliminate this legal problem. The final decision will again be made by Division A1 of the Supreme Court when registering electoral rolls.
Where did the “7–8%” come from?
Particular attention was drawn to Panaji’s statement that Kasidiaris’ political support was allegedly about 7–8%.
However, this figure requires a caveat: the lawyer did not name a specific published survey that would confirm this result. Therefore, it is not yet possible to perceive 7–8% as an established rating of Kasidiaris’s political project – this is an assessment of his side.
What’s changing on the right flank
Nevertheless, the very return of Kasidiaris to public politics can complicate the balance of power to the right of New Democracy.
The “Greek Solution” of Kyriakos Velopoulos, “Voice of Reason” of Aphroditi Latinopoulou and “Niki” are already competing for the same part of the electorate. If another viable coalition does emerge around Kasidiaris, this segment of voters could become even more fragmented.
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