ic Kent, UK
April 8 2006
BNP row over candidate’s background Apr 8 2006
The British National Party is split over its decision to select the
grandson of an asylum seeker to stand in next month’s local
elections, it was reported.
Sharif Abdel Gawad, whose grandfather was Armenian and grandmother
was Greek, has been selected to stand in a Bradford ward as one of
353 candidates the party is fielding.
The decision has provoked a backlash among BNP hardliners, the
Guardian reports, who believe Mr Gawad should be barred from the
party on race grounds.
BNP spokesman Phil Edwards admitted there had been a number of
complaints from “one or two people on the lunatic fringe” of the
party, who he said had no place in the organisation.
He insisted Mr Gawad fulfilled the BNP criteria of being “a member of
the white European race of people”.