The Council of State rejected the application of the “Patriotic Union – Prodomos Emfietzoglou” party that requested the annulment of the decision of the A1 Political Department of the Ario which did not allow it to participate in the previous parliamentary elections of May 21, 2023, as it was deemed competent for the election issues are only the Supreme Special Court (SSC).

In more detail, the 4th Department of the CoE (president and vice-president Spyridoula Chrysikopoulou and rapporteur Ioannis Papagiannis) with its decision No. 1088/2023, within a week of the day of the debate in the audience, rejected the application of the disputed party and ruled that the AED is responsible for resolving electoral issues that arise before and after the elections.

The SC reports that challenging a decision of the Supreme Court, when it is issued during the pre-election period, creates an electoral dispute, the resolution of which falls under the jurisdiction of the AED.

Furthermore, the SC ruled (citing earlier case law of the AED) that the decisions of the Supreme Court, “which resolve disputes over the use of a political party’s name or emblem, within or outside the pre-election period, are not subject to an application for annulment before the SC, because they are acts of a judicial and not an administrative authority”.

It is recalled that Mr. Emfietzoglou, through his lawyer Vassilis Papadimitriou, argued that the declaration of the parties made by the Supreme Court (1/2023) in view of last May’s elections was illegal, in terms of the part that did not allow the his party to participate in the election contest.

Mr. Emfietzoglou’s party was “cut off” by the Supreme Court with the reason that he has committed name theft of the central core of its name by the party “Patriotic Union-Hellenic People’s Gathering” (EL.LAS.) and that it has appropriated the Helio tis Vergina (sixteen-pointed sun) as the party’s symbol, which has been designated a national symbol.