PASOK against Kasidiaris' candidature for Mayor of Athens
"The political system cannot and should not leave local governments in the hands of convicted criminals," PASOK MP Panayotis Dudonis said in a statement on the party's official website.
Noting that PASOK has always been at the forefront of the fight against neo-Nazi criminals, Dudonis said PASOK would ask for a legal initiative to prevent groups led by convicted members of criminal organisations from participating in local elections.
Kasidiaris, who is in prison, had announced that he would be a candidate
Kasidiaris, who was convicted of leading a criminal organisation and is currently in Domoku Prison, announced last week that he would run for Mayor of Athens.
As a result of the legal arrangement passed by the government led by Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis, the judicial decision preventing the Greeks Nationalist Party, founded by Ilias Kasidiaris, former deputy of the racist Golden Dawn Party, and the alliance called "Greeks for Homeland and Freedom", consisting of independent parliamentary candidates, including Kasidiaris, from entering the elections before the general elections on 21 May, could not prevent the far right.
The Spartans Party, which Kasidiaris announced that he would support just before the 25 June elections, made a surprise exit and received 4.64 percent of the votes in the general elections.
Party leader Vasilis Stingas thanked Kasidiaris in a press statement after the election results were announced.
