'Adversaries, not enemies': Greek PM warns far-right MPs

'Adversaries, not enemies': Greek PM warns far-right MPs
by AFP Staff Writers
Athens (AFP) July 6, 2023

Newly re-elected Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday warned far-right lawmakers not to "impede" the country's progress as he outlined his government's policies over the next four years.

"This may be a multi-party parliament, but it must not turn into a turbulent one. The time of extremes and vulgarity is in the past," Mitsotakis said in an apparent swipe at two previously unknown far-right parties that gained seats in the most recent election.

Formerly fringe parties Niki ("Victory") and Spartiates ("Spartans") last month combined for over 433,000 votes, electing 22 MPs in the 300-seat parliament.

A third far-right party, Greek Solution -- which also held seats in the last parliament -- was re-elected with 231,000 votes and 12 MPs.

"If certain people in this chamber are not prepared to contribute towards the national effort, the least I ask of them is not to impede it... all of us must respect parliamentary rules," Mitsotakis said.

"We are adversaries, not enemies, remember that well," he said.

The Spartans were publicly backed by the former spokesman of Golden Dawn, Ilias Kasidiaris, who is serving a 13-year prison sentence with other senior members of the neo-Nazi group.

A landmark five-year trial in 2020 found that Golden Dawn had operated as a criminal organisation with a paramilitary structure that encouraged intimidation attacks and beatings of political opponents.

Prison sentences are being carried out by members of the outfit for crimes including the murder of an anti-fascist rapper.

At one point Greece's third largest party in parliament, Golden Dawn was also noted for the erratic and aggressive behaviour of its lawmakers.

One of them, who now backs the Spartans, was arrested in 2018 after calling for a military coup.

A few months before his sentencing, Kasidiaris formed a new party named Hellenes.

The Hellenes party was unable to participate in the election after Mitsotakis' government passed a legal amendment banning parties whose leadership has been convicted of serious crimes.

But Kasidiaris subsequently was seen to have dodged the ban by endorsing the Spartans -- after it was clear they would be allowed to run.

The Kathimerini daily last month noted that several of the Spartans' 12 lawmakers were previously Hellenes candidates.

Among his notable pledges, Mitsotakis has vowed to make an early repayment of Greece's EU bailout loans, and to legalise same-sex marriage.