A GREEK MP physically attacks a female MP from a rival party live on TV in this shocking clip. Authorities have ordered the arrest of far-right Ilias Kasidiaris after he repeatedly slapped left-winger Liana Kanelli around the face.
Kasidiaris, who is a spokesman for the troubled country's Golden Dawn party, had just thrown a glass of water over another female MP, Rena Dourou, from radical left group Syriza.
Tempers frayed on the panel show, broadcast on station Antenna, during a discussion on the country's politics in the run-up to repeat elections on June 17. Kasidiaris is said to have taken offense when Dourou mentioned a court case pending against him, relating to his alleged involvement in an armed robbery in 2007.
He jumped up and threw the water at her, then turned on Kanelli, a prominent member of Communist party KKE, who had thrown a newspaper in his direction.
Show host Giorgos Papadakis ran over to Kasidiaris trying to calm him down, shouting: “No, no, no!”
But the politician, who had served in the Greek military’s special forces, hit Kanelli around the face three times.
Kasidiaris was elected to Parliament in the country’s inconclusive polls last month.
Greeks unhappy with austerity measures amid the financial crisis turned against the two main Conservative and Socialist parties.
Instead they voted for radical smaller parties but new elections were called as none had enough votes to form a government alone and talks for a coalition collapsed.
Golden Dawn, which strongly denies its neo-Nazi label given by Greeks, has been accused of being behind violent attacks against immigrants.
The party won nearly seven per cent of the vote, giving it 21 seats in the 300-member Parliament, a huge increase on its 0.31 per cent showing in the 2009 poll.
Deputies from all seven parties that won seats had been invited on the show.
Government spokesman Dimitris Tsiodras said it condemned the attack "in the most categorical way".
He called on Golden Dawn to condemn its member's action and added: “This attack is an attack against every democratic citizen.”
A journalist at Antenna told the AFP news agency that colleagues were unable to stop Kasidiaris from leaving the building.
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