A political party supported by convicted former Golden Dawn lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris is polling above Greece’s parliamentary election threshold, raising questions about whether it will be permitted to contest the 2027 general election and whether Kasidiaris himself can legally stand as a candidate.
The Alliance of Greeks (Symmachia Ellinon) received 4% in the latest Pulse poll for SKAI television, released October 22, placing it above the 3% threshold required to enter Greece’s 300-seat Parliament.
The party recorded 3.5% in voting intention before undecided voters were allocated. A separate Metron Analysis survey gave it 3.5% in its vote estimate, while an Opinion Poll survey published October 13 placed it below the parliamentary threshold.
Can Ilias Kasidiaris Legally Run for Parliament in Greece’s Election?
Kasidiaris, convicted for his role in the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn criminal organization, announced in September that he supported the Alliance of Greeks, a party established in 2025. The formation includes three independent lawmakers formerly associated with the Spartans party. Kasidiaris has not clarified whether he intends to seek election under its banner or pursue another option.
Kasidiaris was released from Domokos prison on September 15, 2026, after completing his prison sentence for his role in the neo-Nazi criminal organization. Upon his release, he announced his return to politics and expressed his intention to participate in the next parliamentary elections, expected in 2027.
Constitutional law professor Charalambos Tsiliotis, writing in Kathimerini on September 2, argued that Kasidiaris’ conviction prevents him from appearing as a parliamentary candidate on any party list without triggering the party’s exclusion. However, he identified a potential legal distinction: Kasidiaris could seek election as an independent candidate because the relevant statutory restrictions concern political parties rather than individual independent candidacies.
The automatic deprivation of political rights as an additional criminal penalty was abolished under Greece’s 2019 Penal Code.
Any candidacy and party participation would ultimately be subject to judicial review, making the Alliance’s polling performance insufficient to guarantee its presence on the ballot.
The Spartans Precedent
The legal uncertainty follows the experience of the far-right Spartans party, which entered Parliament with 12 lawmakers in June 2023 after receiving Kasidiaris’ endorsement from prison.
In April 2024, Greece’s Supreme Court barred the Spartans from European Parliament elections, determining that Kasidiaris was the party’s actual leader despite Vasilis Stigkas holding the official presidency. On June 10, 2025, Greece’s Supreme Special Court invalidated the election of three Spartans lawmakers, including Stigkas, after finding that voters had been misled about the party’s leadership. Their seats remained vacant, reducing Parliament’s membership from 300 to 297.
The decisions established a judicial precedent concerning undisclosed political leadership and electoral participation.
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