"Our far-right people"

Dear reader,

This is our weekly round-up from Greece.

Two arrests have been made about journalist Giorgos Karaivaz's murder; it was reported on Friday, with no further details being released. The Citizen Protection Minister attacked those who have been casting doubt on the Government as to the case.

The two biggest parties, ND and SYRIZA, made big electoral promises this week.      

Highly suspicious moves by far-right parties to secure participation in the forthcoming elections have been reported. Fears have been expressed that they could finally end up participating in disguise. This is happening due to the highly problematic legislation the Interior Minister passed. However, some of the Minister's connections suggest he was the wrong person for this task.

The Top Public Prosecutor admitted that he would have obstructed an investigation by Independent Authority ADAE in the context of the wiretapping scandal had he known in time. At the same time, the mainstream media attacked ADAE's president for doing his job.

Far-right machinations with elections ahead 

A total of 50 parties, party coalitions, and individuals submitted applications (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) to Greece's Supreme Court for approval to run in the May 21 national elections, more than double the number (24) of those offered in the last general elections in 2019.

There are some worrying developments regarding the far-right parties. The Government has passed some amendments to exclude ex-Golden Dawn leading figure Ilias Kasidiaris's party Ellines from running. After this legislation was passed, a former Top Court Areios Pagos deputy public prosecutor Anastasios Kanellopoulos appeared as the new head of 'Ellines' instead of Kasidiaris, apparently to 'pass' the provision that a convicted under certain charges person cannot lead a party.  

The developments did not stop there, however. A lawsuit was filed (Öffnet in neuem Fenster) against Kasidiaris for using the name 'Ellines' for his party (now appearing to be led by retired brigadier Dimitris Hatziliadis) as the plaintiff claims he has been running a party under the same name since 2012.