The Independent Greeks - National Patriotic Alliance ( el, Ανεξάρτητοι Έλληνες (ΑΝΕΛ), ''Anexartitoi Ellines'', ANEL) is a
national-conservative
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...
political party in Greece.
The party was the junior coalition partner to the
Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) in the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
second Tsipras governments, from January 2015 until the
June 2019 parliamentary election, in which the party did not participate.
History
The party was created on 24 February 2012 by
Panos Kammenos, a former
Member of Parliament (MP) for the conservative party
New Democracy (ND).
Kammenos had been expelled from the New Democracy parliamentary group after voting against
Lucas Papademos' coalition government in a vote of confidence. The party's founding declaration was issued on 11 March 2012.
Ten former ND deputies were founding members of the party, namely
Elena Kountoura,
Christos Zois, , ,
Spyros Galinos, ,
Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha,
Panagiotis Melas and
On 17 April 2012, the small left-wing anti-bailout party
Panhellenic Citizen Chariot reached an election cooperation agreement with the Independent Greeks.
Prior to the
May 2012 legislative election, the party had 11 MPs: 10 defectors from New Democracy and one from
Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).
The party won 10.6% of the vote and 33 MPs in the parliamentary election in May 2012.
In the snap
June 2012 legislative election, ANEL received 7.5% of the vote, which reduced the party's representation to 20 MPs.
In the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
held on 25 May 2014, ANEL received 3.5% of the vote, electing a single
MEP MEP may refer to:
Organisations and politics
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka
* Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
who sat with the
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
(ECR) group. The MEP,
Notis Marias
)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Thessaloniki, Greece
, citizenship =
, nationality =
, party = ANEL (until 2014)Independent (since 2014)
, otherparty =
, spouse =
...
, left ANEL, however, and became an independent member of the ECR group.
In the
January 2015 legislative election held on 25 January 2015, ANEL received 4.75% of the vote and returned 13 MPs to the
Hellenic Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...
. On 26 January 2015, ANEL agreed to form a governing coalition with the
Coalition of the Radical Left.
The second election of the year, the
September 2015 legislative election on 20 September 2015, returned ANEL to parliament with 10 seats from 3.69% of the vote. Syriza again agreed to form a coalition government with ANEL, with the returning cabinet sworn in on 21 September.
On 13 January 2019, Defence Minister
Panos Kammenos and the Independent Greeks withdrew from Greece's ruling coalition over a deal struck on the
Macedonia naming dispute, potentially leaving the governing coalition without a workable majority in parliament. However, the government was able to survive the confidence vote thanks to some ANEL dissidents.
On 9 June 2019, party leader Panos Kammenos announced ANEL would not participate in the
2019 parliamentary election.
Ideology
The party has been described as
conservative,
national-conservative
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...
,
right-wing populist,
Greek nationalist,
and
Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
.
The party called for revoking the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
second memorandums, loan agreements between Greece, the EU and the
International Monetary Fund.
Further, it considers the agreements illegal and calls for lifting immunity from and then investigating and prosecuting Greek ministers, parliamentarians, and officials who negotiated the agreements or who otherwise bear blame for Greece's economic crisis.
In opposing the memorandums negotiated with
'The Troika', party leader Kammenos said Greece had become a "laboratory animal" in an austerity experiment conducted by the IMF and EU, who "used the public debt as a means of control." Kammenos has focused much of his fire on Germany, stating that "Germany is not treating Greece as a partner but as its master. ... It tries to turn a Europe of independent states into a Europe dominated by Germany."
The party's official programme states it will repudiate part of Greece's
debt because it was created by speculators in a conspiracy to bring Greece to the edge of
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
.
It announced in December 2012 that it would start working to create a patriotic Democratic Front, whose aim is to save "Greece from the neo-liberal avalanche."
The party also calls for German
war reparations (for the
invasion and occupation of Greece in the Second World War).
On social policy, Independent Greeks oppose multiculturalism and want to
reduce immigration, and support development of a
Christian Orthodox oriented education system.
According to ''
The Independent'', the party has "a socially right-wing stance, supporting patriotism and the role of the
Greek Orthodox Church in family life and education".
Election results
Hellenic Parliament
European Parliament
Members of Parliament
The Independent Greeks most recently held three MPs in the 2015 (September)-2019 Hellenic Parliament:
On 19 November 2015
Nikolaos Nikolopoulos
Nikolaos Nikolopoulos ( el, Νίκος Νικολόπουλος; born 1958) is a Greek politician. He has served as Member of the Greek Parliament from 2009 to 2019 and previously from 1989 to 2007. He formerly sat as an Independent (politician) ...
was expelled from the Parliamentary Group of Independent Greeks.
On 16 June 2018
Dimitrios Kammenos
Dimitris Kammenos ( el, Δημήτρης Καμμένος) is a Greek politician who served for less than one day as Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks in the Second Tsipras Cabinet.
Controversy
In June 2015, Kammenos ...
was expelled from the party, because he voted to topple the government in a recent
no confidence vote
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
tabled by Official Opposition party
New Democracy. On 26 June
Georgios Lazaridis left his party's parliamentary group and declared himself independent citing opposition to the
Greece-
Republic of Macedonia naming agreement signed on 17 June 2018, as the reason for leaving the party.
On 14 January 2019
Elena Kountoura and
Vasilion Kokkalis were expelled from the party due to their continuing support for Tsipras government after Independent Greeks left it over the
Prespa agreement dispute.
On 15 January 2019
Aristidis Fokas elected on the list of
Union of Centrists
The Union of Centrists ( el, Ένωση Κεντρώων, Énosi Kentróon, ) is a centrist, liberal political party in Greece. The leader and founder of the party is the veteran anti-corruption activist Vassilis Leventis. It strongly supports Gr ...
joined Independent Greeks.
Στην ΚΟ των ΑΝΕΛ ο Αριστείδης Φωκάς
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References
External links
*
{{Greek political parties
Nationalist parties in Greece
Euroscepticism in Greece
National conservative parties
Political parties established in 2012
2012 establishments in Greece
Parties represented in the European Parliament
Right-wing populism in Greece
Social conservative parties
Eastern Orthodox political parties
Right-wing populist parties