Kasidiaris tries to circumvent election ban

By Constantine Capsaskis

Newsletter Editor

Welcome to the weekly round-up of news by Kathimerini English Edition. The Greek National Party (Ellines) founded by Ilias Kasidiaris, a jailed former MP serving a sentence for his involvement with Golden Dawn, appointed former Supreme Court Assistant Prosecutor Anastasios Kanellopoulos as its formal leader in a bid to circumvent a participation ban in the upcoming elections.

In February, the government had introduced legislation to exclude Kasidiaris due to his criminal conviction for a serious criminal offense. In response to the news of the maneuver to bypass the ban, Interior Minister Makis Voridis tabled an amendment that seeks to broaden the existing election ban to ensure that Kasidiaris will be unable to run.

Kanellopoulos’ brothers (one of whom is himself a member of the Supreme Court) also published an open letter denouncing his involvement with the party of Kasidiaris.

The far-right party of Kasidiaris is now waiting for the ruling of the Supreme Court on May 5 whether it will be eligible to run in the next election. As the party is currently polling above the 3% threshold for entering parliament, a potential ruling by the Supreme Court allowing it to run in the elections can be expected to seriously impact on the composition of parliament following the elections.

Spotlight

• The Hellenic Police opened a disciplinary inquiry regarding a police officer who fired four warning shots in a densely populated area of central Athens on Wednesday after his vehicle was attacked by unidentified assailants. The Police released a statement stressing that the officer had disobeyed a direct order to avoid driving near the Athens University of Economics and Business after a group of people set up makeshift barricades. The announcement of an investigation has split opinions in Greece, with some supporting the view that the police officer was acting in self-defense while others point to the fact that the officer was unjustified in drawing his weapon in a crowded and busy Athenian thoroughfare. Issues of security, including the conduct of Greece’s police force, are expected to feature prominently in the run up to the elections.

• From violence in the streets, to violence in the schools, Greece was shocked at news of an incident of another worrying incident of extreme physical bullying at one of its most prestigious private schools. According to the report, a group of six students tied a length of fishing line across the neck of a 15-year-old boy. According to state broadcaster ERT, the student went to the school infirmary but did not reveal the incident, only telling his mother when he returned home. Most of the children involved were arrested following a complaint to the police, however the family’s lawyers are complaining that victim and aggressors are still in the same academic environment and maintain that the school’s response to earlier incidents was inadequate.

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OPINION

Continuation or change, the parties’ messages

By Tom Ellis

Editor-in-Chief, Kathimerini English Edition

As we move closer to the May 21 election, the country’s political forces are finalizing their campaign strategies with their main “target” being the large proportion of undecided voters in the middle.

Ruling New Democracy, and to a lesser extent all the parties that have been in power, including SYRIZA and PASOK, are faced with a protest vote after the train tragedy at Tempe.

A special effort is being made on the social media front as everyone realizes its crucial role. The latter seems to be where SYRIZA is working the hardest as it feels unfairly treated by the mainstream media. In that context some question the accuracy of the polls which show the gap closing, but still have the government ahead by around 4 percentage points.

The Conservatives’ strategy is to build around the message of a strong Greece, arguing that this can only be achieved through the continuation of the present policies in both the domestic front and in foreign relations.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis often asks people to think where the country was in 2019 when he took power, comparing his achievements against those of SYRIZA.

SYRIZA on the other hand, calls for change and moving away from nepotism. It accuses the government of not dealing effectively with the high cost of living and puts special emphasis on the need to respect the rule of law keeping at the forefront acts that, it says, show a pattern of infringement on civil liberties, most notably the wiretapping cases.

Former PM Alexis Tsipras flips the coin and calls on the voters to remember the dire situation he says Greece was in when he took over from former Conservative PM, Antonis Samaras, in 2015.

For its part, PASOK, the country’s third political force, is trying to position itself as the kingmaker and at the same time underline its potentially critical role – in a coalition with either the Right or the Left – as an institutional force of check and balances.

CHART OF THE WEEK

The signs of a slowdown in Greece’s housing market have begun to emerge in recent weeks as demand, primarily in areas popular with Greek buyers, has receded. This is due both to the marked increase in prices recorded over the last two years as well as the reduced number of Greeks who have the financial ability to purchase real estate in the current climate of uncertainty and rising interest rates. This is most notable in the northern suburbs of Athens as well as eastern Attica. However, the performance of areas popular with international buyers, including the southern suburbs of Athens or the city center itself, remains strong.

ESCAPADE

The Ultimate Guide to Greek Easter

Key religious customs, traditional dishes, and how to pronounce them all in Greek, with this comprehensive guide, we’ve got you covered this Easter.

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ECONOMY IN A NUTSHELL

1. “The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,074 points this week, up 1.84% from last week. This was the third straight week of growth for the main index.”
2. “The Finance Ministry reported that 381 investment plans, with a combined budget of 12.12 billion euros, have been submitted to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Greece 2.0. The participation of small and medium sized enterprises is estimated at 22.5%.”
3. “A total of 147,925 applications for non-EU workers to fill vacant positions were approved by a ministerial decision this week, 39% of the 379,165 total number of requests. This includes agricultural laborers, but also 9,261 workers in the catering and accommodation sectors.”

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

11/04/2023

School Bullying: The Board of the private school in which the bullying incident took place announced that its investigation was complete and stated that all decisions will be taken by a meeting of the school’s Teachers’ Association on Tuesday.

13/04/2023

Kaili release bid: Detained MEP Kaili, who is being investigated for her involvement in the Qatargate scandal, will appear before a judicial panel on Thursday in a bid to be released from pre-trial custody.

16/04/2023

Greek Orthodox Easter: Greek Orthodox faithful will celebrate the religious holiday of Easter on Sunday.

PODCAST

Eurogroup chief highlights Greece’s economic progress

Eirini Zarkadoula, the Brussels correspondent for ERT – the Greek Public Broadcasting Company – and for the Athens News Agency, joins Thanos Davelis to break down the main takeaways from Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe’s visit to Greece this week that once again put the country’s economic progress in the spotlight.