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Celebrations for Kyriakos Mitsotakis: His government has survived a vote of no confidence
Photo: Petros Giannakouris / AP
The Greek parliament rejected a vote of no confidence in the government of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis late on Thursday evening. As the parliamentary presidency announced, 159 MPs voted against the opposition's motion. 141 parliamentarians voted in favor. This means that the government under Mitsotakis remains in office.
The social democratic party Pasok requested the vote of no confidence and was supported by all opposition parties.
The focus was on a serious train accident just over a year ago. Late in the evening of February 28, 2023, a freight train collided with an Intercity near the central Greek city of Larisa. 57 people were killed, including many students who were returning to their universities after a public holiday. The Larisa station manager confessed to the judiciary that he had directed the Intercity onto the wrong track.
The opposition accused the government of manipulating evidence. Immediately after the accident, radio conversations between the train drivers and a station master were leaked to the press, which were manipulated in such a way that the accident was solely due to mistakes by the responsible station manager, i.e. human error, was the accusation. Representatives of the opposition parties complained that this was done to cover up deficiencies and omissions in the entire system of the Greek railways and those responsible in the Ministry of Transport.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis admitted that the state also bears some of the blame: the railways' safety systems are inadequate. The investigation showed that the condition of the railway network was desolate and the safety precautions were poor. "But if the station manager had done his job correctly, the accident would not have occurred," said the Greek head of government. The judiciary has determined this and that is why the station master is in custody. It is still unclear when the incident will be dealt with in court.
vet/dpa