New Democracy
Which party was Makis Voridis a member of in Sep 2012?
Makis Voridis Mavroudis ( Makis ) Voridis ( ) ( born 23 August 1964 ) is a Greek lawyer and politician . A member of the Hellenic Parliament for New Democracy since 2012 , he currently serves as the Minister for the Interior in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis . He previously served as Minister for Infrastructure , Transport and Networks in the Cabinet of Lucas Papademos ( 2011–2012 ) , Minister for Health in the Cabinet of Antonis Samaras ( 2014–2015 ) , and Minister for Rural Development and Food in the original Mitsotakis cabinet ( 2019–2021 ) . Voridis graduated from Athens College and acquired his degree from the Law School of the University of Athens . He also acquired a Master of Laws with merit from University College London . Voridis specialized in international commercial law , criminal law , and the philosophy of law . During his time there , he was the leader of the fascist student group Student Alternative . Voridis himself has denied any connection with far-right politics , instead describing himself as a national liberal . According to a former fellow student at Athens College , writing in Israeli newspaper Haaretz , Voridis formed the fascist student group Free Pupils that painted the walls with swastikas and saluted each other using the Nazi-era greeting Heil Hitler . It was further alleged that during school elections , Voridis would violently threaten the Jewish students who opposed his fascist group , as well as their families . After graduating from Athens College , he was appointed secretary general of the young wing of the National Political Union ( EPEN ) , a far-right political party founded by a year earlier by the jailed leader of the 1967 military coup and junta leader Georgios Papadopoulos . Voridis , who replaced Nikolaos Michaloliakos ( who went on to lead Golden Dawn ) as EPENs youth leader , remained in this position until 1990 . During his compulsory military service from 1992 to 1993 , Voridis graduated class leader ( 92 A ESSO ) in Armour School and he served as an Armour Cadet Reserve Officer , gaining the rank of second lieutenant . In 1994 , he founded the far-right Hellenic Front party and became its first president . He unsuccessfully ran for the position of Athens mayor in 1998 and 2002 . The Fronts motto was Red Card to the Illegal Immigrants , and he ran together with Konstantinos Plevris in the national elections of 2000 . The Hellenic Front under the chairmanship of Voridis performed lamentably in the 2004 general election and managed to gather only 7000 ( 0.1% ) votes . As a result of this , the Hellenic Front ceased its political activity in 2005 and was subsequently merged with the more successful Popular Orthodox Rally ( LAOS ) party . Voridis became a member of the political council of LAOS . Voridis has a law office in Athens and competed for a council seat in the 2006 local elections on the LAOS ticket in East Attica . He eventually secured 5% of the vote and was elected prefectural councillor . On 16 September 2007 , Makis Voridis was elected Member of the Greek Parliament with LAOS , calling up 8,663 votes in the Attica district , with a potential difference of 5174 votes from the second candidate , Tania Iakovidou , a TV journalist . In November 2011 , Voridis was appointed Minister for Infrastructure , Transport and Networks in the coalition government headed by Lucas Papademos . In February 2012 , he was expelled from LAOS for supporting the second bailout package but retained his portfolio after consultations with the prime minister . A few days later , he joined New Democracy and surrendered his parliamentary seat to LAOS . As Minister , Voridis was supposed to open up professions like taxi drivers , a measure he has previously opposed on multiple occasions . In an interview with The Guardian , Voridis denied allegations of crypto-fascism , antisemitism and homophobia , describing himself as a national liberal with a rightwing student activist background . Voridis has also expressed views against illegal immigration . The articles author describes him as a former axe-wielding fascist who does not deny he is a reconstructed fascist . His presence in government has been met with alarm by Jewish and leftist groups . On 10 June 2014 , Voridis was appointed Minister for Health , despite significant concern from Jewish and other groups . On 9 July 2019 , he was appointed Minister for Rural Development and Food in the cabinet of New Democracy leader and prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis . On 5 January 2021 , he was appointed Minister for the Interior . External links . - Hellenic Lines , newspaper of the Hellenic Front party ( in Greek ) - Kathimerini daily newspaper , an article about Makis Voridis and the parliamentary group of the Popular Orthodox Rally ( in English ) - Article by The Guardian about the extreme right in Europe . Makis Voridis is mentioned .