Baltakos in talks about creation of right-wing party

The former chief adviser to Antonis Samaras when he was prime minister, Panayiotis Baltakos, said on Monday that he is in discussions about the creation of a new, “patriotic” right-wing party.

Baltakos, who was removed by Samaras when it was revealed that he was holding secret talks with Golden Dawn officials, said that discussions about the party’s formation have been going for the the last two to three months.

He made it clear that he is not interested in leading the prospective grouping. He suggested that former chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Frangoulis Frangos, could be one of the candidates to lead the party. Frangos served as interim defense minister in 2012.

Baltakos, a former cabinet secretary, said that Independent Greeks could work with the right-wing party once it is formed.

He suggested that the new movement could win between 10 and 12 percent of the vote in the next elections.

New Democracy issued a statement dismissing Baltakos’s efforts. “We do not understand why Baltakos is going to the effort to create a party and does not directly join Golden Dawn, with whom he is on familiar terms,” said the conservatives.