The Popular Orthodox Rally or People's Orthodox Alarm ( Greek: Λαϊκός Ορθόδοξος Συναγερμός, ''Laikós Orthódoxos Synagermós''), often abbreviated to LAOS (ΛΑ.Ο.Σ.) as a pun on the Greek word for ''people'', is a Greek

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...

political party. It was founded by journalist

Georgios Karatzaferis Georgios Karatzaferis ( el, Γεώργιος Καρατζαφέρης; born August 11, 1947) is a Greek politician, a former member of the Hellenic Parliament and the president of the Popular Orthodox Rally. Previously, Karatzaferis was a member ...

in 2000, a few months after he was expelled from the centre-right New Democracy. Today, the party is led by Nikolaos Salavrakos. In 2004, LAOS secured support from the Party of Hellenism and the Hellenic Women's Political Party. In 2005, LAOS absorbed the nationalist Hellenic Front. The youth branch of LAOS is the Youth of the Orthodox Rally (NEOS) (which is also a pun on the word for "youth" in Greek). The Popular Orthodox Rally was a member of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

during the 7th European Parliament, and was a member of the

Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe The Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe (AIDE) (Alliance des Démocrates Indépendants en Europe (ADIE) in French) was a Eurosceptic, nationalist political party at the European level. Creation AIDE was created on 28 October 2005 in th ...

Europarty until the AIDE's dissolution in 2008. The party failed to reach the 3% threshold of the popular vote in the

2004 elections 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, with 2.2%; three months later it gained 4.12% of the vote and one seat in the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections. LAOS received 3.8% of the vote in the 2007 elections, electing 10 members of parliament. In 2009 LAOS managed to

elect An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

two representatives in the

, receiving 7.14% of the vote. After receiving 5.63% of the vote and electing 15 members of parliament in the 2009 elections, LAOS dropped below the 3% threshold in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

and failed to secure any seats in parliament. On 8 April 2016 LAOS joined the alliance

National Unity Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: T ...

. The party did not contest the 2019 elections.

Ideology

According to the Popular Orthodox Rally, "the

demarcation Demarcation is the act of creating a boundary around a place or thing. Demarcation may also refer to: *Demarcation line, a temporary border between the countries *Demarcation problem, the question of which practices of doing science permit the re ...

of the political world into the Right Wing and the

Left Wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

is no longer relevant after the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

. Nowadays, everyone in every aspect of his or her everyday life is either in favour or against

Globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

". The party claims to consist of radically diverse groups that span the entire left-right political spectrum. Party president Karatzaferis, speaking on the 6th anniversary of the party's creation, stated "We are united in the only party that has in its ranks labourers and scientists, workers and the unemployed, leftists and rightists". Karatzaferis has described the Popular Orthodox Rally as "a profoundly democratic party", consisting of everything from a "pre-dictatorship Right" to a merger of Left and Right to a "Popular Liberalism" in official party literature. He has also stated that he supports "patriotism and social

solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

, taking from all ideologies and personalities I like. I don't care if it's called communism, liberalism or socialism."ND's nemesis is named Karatzaferis, 1 June 2007
However, the Popular Orthodox Rally is often characterized by opposing politicians and in the media as "far-right", "populist", "radical right", "right-wing" and "nationalist". It has also been argued that its founding declaration (now withdrawn from the web) included antidemocratic, anti-parliamentary ideas, and the proposal that decisions should be taken by a council, which would include military officers and Church officials. The Popular Orthodox Rally began as a party with an Orthodox Christian religious identity, but also one with a radically nationalist political identity. Although it has since allegedly tried to 'moderate' the nationalist part of its appeal, with some of an extreme-nationalist or neo-fascist bent, such as

Konstantinos Plevris Konstantinos A. Plevris (; born 1939 in Athens), sometimes called in English Constantine Plevris or Kostas Plevris, is a Greek politician, lawyer, nationalist, and neo-fascist author. The prolific writer has, over the course of decades, written a ...

, then leaving the party to join Patriotic Alliance or other fringe political organizations, more extreme-nationalists have recently once again joined its ranks and been elected to parliament. Of the ten Popular Orthodox Rally candidates who entered the parliament in 2007, four are considered to be part of the "nationalist bloc": Makis Voridis, "Thanos" Plevris, Adonis Georgiadis, and Kiriakos Velopoulos. Amid the Greek government-debt crisis, the party supported the first bail-out in 2010 (the only parliamentary party apart from the governing PASOK), but thereafter voted against PASOK government on crucial votes, including the 29 June 2011 vote on austerity measures. After George Papandreou resigned in November 2011, LAOS participated along with PASOK and the ND in the government of national unity (the Papademos cabinet), but resigned from the government in February 2012 due to further austerity measures and amid declining popularity in polls. LAOS failed to win any seats in the 2012 Greece parliamentary election, which can be attributed to its previous indecisive position.

Platform

The main points of the Popular Orthodox Rally platform are as follows: * No accession of Turkey to the European Union * Ban immigration from outside the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

and deport all illegal immigrants. * Opposition to the European Constitution and the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

* A strict stance in the

Macedonia naming dispute The use of the country name " Macedonia" was disputed between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) between 1991 and 2019. The dispute was a source of instability in the Western Balkans for 25 years. It was resolved t ...

; no recognition of the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

under any name that includes the term "Macedonia." * Drastic tax cuts for both individuals and small businesses.

Election results

Hellenic Parliament

European Parliament

^A Electoral alliance with the .

Local elections

Affiliated media

*The weekly newspaper A1 * ART television station * Th
alpha1news.gr website
* The APT radio station FM 90.6

Notes

External links

*
Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs – Greek Election Results
accessed 10 October 2012.
Official Representation in Germany for the state BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG (in Greek, English and German)
This page appears to be almost all Greek language with no apparent link to an English language website. - accessed 10 October 2012. {{Authority control Christian democratic parties in Europe Nationalist parties in Greece Eastern Orthodox political parties Political parties established in 2000 2000 establishments in Greece Eurosceptic parties in Greece Conservative parties in Greece Eastern Orthodoxy and far-right politics Social conservative parties Right-wing populism in Greece Right-wing populist parties Right-wing parties in Europe