Lawmaker resigns from Greece’s far-right Spartans party

​​​​​​​By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - A lawmaker resigned from Greece’s far-right Spartans’ party, media reports said Thursday.

Harris Katsivardas, in his letter to the Parliamentary Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas, announced that he is leaving the party’s parliamentary group to become an independent, according to the state-run AMNA news agency.

He was among 11 lawmakers who rebelled last August against their leader, Vassilis Stigas, whom they accused of being a government’s pawn.

The Spartans, founded in 2017 by Stigas, maintains strong connections with the Golden Dawn party, which was convicted in 2020 for running a criminal organization.

The party, which was openly endorsed by Golden Dawn’s imprisoned lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris, surpassed the 3% threshold in the June 25 elections and won 12 seats in parliament.

In a separate development, MIltiadis Varvitsiotis, a lawmaker with the ruling New Democratic party announced he resigned from parliament and is leaving politics.

“Having served twice in the Ministry of Shipping, with the experience of a maritime lawyer, but also as a man of the sea, I firmly believe that this area has unlimited potential for the development and prosperity of the country,” he wrote on X.​​​​​​​