With the government under continued pressure over the Tempi affair, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is currently on the floor of Parliament, in a special session during which political leaders will present their positions with their opening remarks on the agenda, followed by the motion of censure that PASOK has announced and will also be supported by SYRIZA, the New Left and the Freedom Voyage.
Watch Kyriakos Mitsotakis' speech in Parliament live
Kyriakos Mitsotakis' speech in Parliament, in the pre-agenda debate on Tempi
Minute by minute the Prime Minister's speech
The second is who will maintain the lines. The solution is an intergovernmental agreement with a foreign organization that will undertake to support OSE for the maintenance and safety of the network.
Two points in the government's plan: The first is for the country to renew the rolling stock on the Athens-Thessaloniki trunk line by 2027
We've talked about what we've done, about completing remote management, about how Daniel forced us to do 20% of it from scratch.
I want to ask, have you heard any proposals from the opposition parties on how we can obtain safer railways? None. I want to hear the plan for Greek trains. You, Mr. Pappas, did not proceed with the privatization of OSE into Hellenic Train, I want to hear your plan.
A greater responsibility is how the Tempi tragedy will be shed light on and how the government will work to restore trains in Greece.
He pointed out the most important risk that the tragedy will lose its path to catharsis. I want to place this discussion in the big picture of international developments. We are living in world-historical moments. Everything we have experienced in terms of the security system since 1945 may be overturned. The US is imposing tariffs on its closest allies. Tomorrow I will be at the European Council to discuss the EU proposals, which are an absolute confirmation of the Greek positions on how we need fiscal flexibility for defense spending. In this environment, some are navel-gazing, targeting the government as the greatest danger to the country.
Normality is never an opportunity, said your executives who switched to the New Left. In front of you is a majority that does not want to put society in danger. This majority will judge us in 2027. A certainty in the face of difficulties. We will never give up.
In a period of international instability, internal stability is a must. It would be disastrous if it happened in Greece. And of course there are those who, from different starting points, meet on common ground. You are not at all interested in the truth, you are looking for a reason to exist. You have collapsed in the opinion polls and you are looking for a reason to exist
During the Memorial period, we experienced such illusions. There we experienced squares up and down, we experienced arson and murders in Marfin. I want to believe that as a society we have matured. I am sure that the majority of citizens do not want us to return there. There are forces in this room that want to make common sorrow their own political tool, to politicize a tragedy in order to hurt me and sow distrust. However, this way not only the power is eroded but also the normality of the place.
This is not just a Greek phenomenon. In Spain, the socialist government was faced with the same phenomenon after a natural disaster. I have no problem with anyone participating in public debate, I will continue to stand up for the right to react when offended. Let the internet masks come off once and for all
It is clear that some rushed to exploit the climate in Greek society. when boots appear from abroad who until 2 months ago were writing in other languages and suddenly did it in Greek to distribute the most vulgar content about Tempi. And we will find them and we will identify those who coordinated this effort.
Everything I said concerns the risk of society being divided by rumors that form an artificial reality. Some people thought that everything could be said and heard. Dealing with such a sick climate is not easy. Doubt poisons everything without killing anything. Various televangelists who appear and comment on everything scientifically. And on this occasion I would like to refer to the report of the EODASAAM's findings on the media. We are not saying it, it is said by an independent organization that criticizes the simplistic way in which the media reproduced conspiracy theories. The ease with which everyone rushed to see the case from the important criminal dimension but not about how we will obtain safer trains. The shaping of this reality is the work of many. We will have a lot to say in a moment about the boots industry, non-existent accounts that spread untrue content. We saw an explosion before Mr. Konstantopoulou's 2-year anniversary.
Your MPs gave Ms. Androulakis a positive vote for the Supreme Court prosecutor.
For Mr. Famellos, SYRIZA. The SYRIZA of 13-0, of Mr. Pappas, of Mr. Papagelopoulos? For Mr. Androulakis who has submitted proposals for changing the leadership of the Ministry of Justice. You gave me the strong impression that you were not even aware of the fact that this parliament has voted a provision by which the plenary of the courts expresses an opinion on the formation of the leadership that your party had voted for. You did not even know it, Mr. Androulakis, so diligent
43 people have been prosecuted. I wonder who wants this trial to start and who is doing everything they can to delay it. As far as we are concerned, we have shortened the procedures for the audience with legislative interventions, we established EODASAAM, we ensured that there will be a courtroom. In the case of ATHEX, some people were looking for a courtroom for 5 years to hold the trial.
What are you telling us? The trial is being delayed to cover up the culprits. It's a big lie.
I know there is suspicion about Justice. We must strengthen it. If we don't do it then what? Statements like taking the law into our own hands.
We may have underestimated the impact of these theories that you first circulated, Mr. Konstantopoulou. We may have at some point dealt with certain issues in a guilty manner. We did not convince society that the restructuring of the trains was our first priority. We did not explain the difficulties we faced. We did not explain the many things that happened. When remote management was completed in September 2023, no one knew about it.
Or that the myth that the former Speaker of the House and currently elected President allegedly hid a case file. everyone knows that whatever reaches the House is at the disposal of the MPs. Mrs. Gerovasili confirmed this. October 23, 2024, a PASOK MP announces the relevant arrival of the case file in front of you
A year ago you were again called for a motion of no confidence regarding the famous editing, which was proven by the Polytechnic Institute's findings to never have existed, but you never came out to say this.
And recently, Mr. Famellos' unacceptable and vile insinuations about the death of a man in Larissa.
The first concern was how to treat the injured and after the tragic task of identifying the dead, we had Mr. Velopoulos talking about a ghost wagon that disappeared. Then that there was a load of xylene. All of these are theories that many of you are spreading. We have even more macabre ones, you are linking the tragedy to the car accident of a former stationmaster. What is all this?
Over the last 2 years, a whole series of myths and lies have developed. Where do I start? From the statements that supposedly the dead were not 57 but 150, Mr. Velopoule, and we were hiding the dead?
In the meantime, the political dialogue continues and that is why we advocated for the preliminary investigation of Triantopoulos. We believe that the indictment is unfounded but we consider it another serious step to prove the real facts. Few people mentioned yesterday the legal aspect of the referral of Triantopoulos. Perhaps Mr. Androulakis because you were not so sure about how legally solid her proposal was
To Konstantopoulou about the holidays: March 5 is the anniversary of Stalin's death, you don't need to honor him in this way,
I would like to hear from the party leaders whether they accept in principle this text as objective.
The Belgian expert wrote that what happened was due to a lack of experience and this is the truth about a cover-up that did not exist because you never said who we tried to cover up or why.
The finding refutes the unfounded and personally very offensive theory of the alleged cover-up that will be an argument in the motion of no confidence. In point 571 it is stated that we found no evidence of political interference either in the field or in the work of the committee.
The report identifies the causes of the accident in the wrong handling. It describes the chronic deficiencies of the railways that contributed to the fatality. It describes the actions of the state mechanism. It fails to provide a documented answer for the fire that followed the collision, referring to further investigation. It includes 17 proposals. It is not flattering for the government, but it justifies the perception that that night human failures collided with the shortcomings of the Greek state. This is what the EODASAAM report says.
We have the report of the Hellenic National Disaster and Emergency Management Agency, which was prepared with the help of European experts and without any political interference. The first page lists the 57 dead. It is a guide on how we will not experience such a tragedy again.
But we also had protesters who called for the government to fall. But I think most of them called for Greece to rise.
The resounding voice of the rallies is heard by us. Hundreds of thousands found themselves in the streets and squares. Let us agree on what they demanded. They demanded justice, safe transportation for the country and a state capable of protecting citizens.
I propose ways for the state to overcome pathologies that have accompanied it almost since its founding.
I point out the danger of political life sinking into a quagmire of doubt. And this is the greatest danger to democracy.
I declare the government's commitment to truth and justice and to respond, even if only briefly, to the storm of fake news.
Some are turning this tragedy into a battering ram without offering an alternative governance proposal.
We are living in such moments today. Certain circles seek to turn a mourning into division. A tragedy that is reduced to a political slogan.
We must confront expediency, we owe it to the relatives of the 57 victims of the Tempi tragedy. They do not deserve to be made a cog in a sad attempt at instrumentalization that shocked all of Greece.
They demand responsibility even in circumstances where they are lost in the confusion.
The troubled MPs and the reshuffle
In the "blue" fountains that had been set up in the corridors and in the Parliament lobby on the sidelines of yesterday's debate on the Pre-Inquiry, however, the concern about the government's course was evident, with many MPs discussing the political initiatives that can be undertaken from now on, but also the timing and scope of the impending reshuffle.
As for the Prime Minister's initiatives, it is now considered certain that the Ministry of Infrastructure will have a portfolio of Deputy Minister of Transport, with a direct report to the Prime Minister's Office and a strengthened "bouquet" of responsibilities according to the standards of the Olympic Games. From there, Mr. Mitsotakis is called upon to decide whether to further strengthen Maximos, adding elements of politics, especially in terms of strategic planning.
From there on, the necessity of interventions in the government structure is now undeniable, given that many ministers have "put down their pencils", waiting for the prime minister's decisions. Yesterday, in the meantime, the General Secretary of Civil Protection, Vasilis Papageorgiou, who is being prosecuted in the same context as Christos Triantopoulos, was also removed by...resignation.
In any case, the countdown to the reshuffle has already begun, given that Mr. Mitsotakis himself has made some contacts. Many believe that the changes will also contain surprises, although Mitsotakis' reshuffles do not always correspond to the scope of the initial thoughts.
The "losers" of the changes in the government formation, however, will be the MPs who will participate in the composition of the Pre-Investigation Committee for Mr. Triantopoulos, as they are not expected to be utilized this time.
Source: protothema.gr
