The speaker of Greece's parliament has rejected a claim by three independent lawmakers that their far-right party, which is backed by a jailed former neo-Nazi leader, should be treated as represented in parliament.
By Emmanuella Argiti
The three lawmakers, formerly members of the far-right Spartiates party, have formed the Alliance of Greeks.
The party is supported by Ilias Kasidiaris, a former lawmaker with the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party who is serving a prison sentence for leading a criminal organization.
The lawmakers wrote to polling companies asking that their party be listed in surveys as one represented in parliament.
"They can declare whatever they want," Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis told reporters. He said that under parliamentary rules, a parliamentary group requires at least 10 lawmakers. "For the Hellenic Parliament, there is no such parliamentary group. Pollsters can do as they wish."
Recent polls put the Alliance of Greeks between about 2.4% and 3.2%, around the 3% threshold needed to enter parliament in elections expected next spring.
Mr. Kaklamanis also said parliament will debate in November a proposal by the left-wing opposition SYRIZA party to set up an inquiry into private debt.
The motion needs the support of 120 lawmakers in the 300-seat chamber to pass, putting the focus on how other opposition parties will vote.
It is the second opposition proposal for a parliamentary inquiry in the current term.
The first, by the Communist Party, into the 2023 Tempi train disaster that killed 57 people, was approved in November 2023.