A dangerous flirtation

There is certainly nothing measly about 244,000 votes. This was, more or less, the number of ballots it took to elect the far-right Spartiates as the fifth biggest party in Parliament in June 2023. A year later, and now the party has been barred from running in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament by the Supreme Court. 

Given how close the June 9 polls are and how public opinion polls are as clear in their indication of the outcome as they are fluid, the development has sent a shock wave through the political system. What other parties are now asking themselves is: How can we reach out to a pool of voters that includes the "orphans" of Golden Dawn without putting a stain on our democratic credentials? But also how can we slam the door shut on a non-negligible number of voters?

The frenzy to deal with these questions has made us witness to the following...