The Greek parliament voted late on Wednesday to set up a preliminary investigation committee for the role of former transport minister Kostas A. Karamanlis in the deadly Tempi train crash that killed 57 people, mostly students, on February 28, 2023.
It approved the probe into the former minister with 154 votes, all from the ruling New Democracy party. It rejected the proposal of the main opposition party PASOK, which named eight political figures, and a third proposal – submitted by citizens, including victim’s relative Maria Karystianou, and supported by smaller parties and independent lawmakers – which targeted 11 political figures, including current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was accused of high treason.
Karamanlis called on all MPs to vote in favor of referring him to a preliminary investigation committee, supporting the proposal of New Democracy, while emphasizing, “I know that I am innocent and I look forward to the judgment of Justice so that all of Greece will know it.”
Tense debate in the Greek parliament over Tempi
The vote followed a tense debate in Parliament where Mitsotakis said that the opposition attempted to turn a national tragedy into a political conspiracy. “I could not remain silent in the face of a vile attempt by the four smallest opposition parties to turn a national tragedy into a political conspiracy – going so far as to accuse the prime minister of high treason,” Mitsotakis told Parliament.
“To slander me and New Democracy as underminers of the political system is disgraceful – an attack on the very party that restored democracy in Greece, [in 1974]” he emphasized.
He characterized the alliance between opposition leaders Zoe Konstantopoulou (protest party Course for Freedom), Kyriakos Velopoulos (nationalist Greek Solution), Stefanos Kasselakis (left-wing Movement for Democracy) and Dimitris Natsios (ultranationalist Niki) as a “new cooperative of toxicity.”
Main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis accused Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of orchestrating a political cover-up.
“Mitsotakis is the perpetrator trying to present himself as the victim,” he said. “He staged a scene of self-victimization, as if the tragedy were his, not that of the families who lost loved ones.” The PASOK leader added that Mitsotakis had “achieved only self-humiliation.”
SYRIZA leader Sokratis Famellos echoed the criticism, citing systemic safety failures and accusing the government of “doing everything possible to hide the truth.”
Tempi disaster reverberates through the Greek political landscape
The Tempi disaster continues to reverberate through the Greek political landscape, fueled by persistent accusations of a government cover-up. The tragedy sparked widespread public outrage, leading to some of the largest demonstrations seen in Greece in years.
In February and early March of this year, hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets of Athens and other major cities, demanding justice for the victims and accountability from the state.
The intensity of public anger put significant pressure on the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who subsequently survived a no-confidence vote in parliament, a testament to the political storm the disaster unleashed.