Greek Parliament Rejects Motion of No Confidence Against Prime Minister Amid Tragic Train Accident Allegations

On Thursday evening, the Greek Parliament met to vote on a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. However, the opposition’s motion was rejected. The parliamentary presidency announced that 159 MPs voted against the motion, while 141 voted in favor. As a result, Mitsotakis remains in office.

The social democratic party Pasok requested the vote of no confidence and was supported by all opposition parties. The focus of the motion was a serious train accident that occurred about a year ago, when a freight train collided with an Intercity near Larisa, resulting in the death of 57 people. The Larisa station manager confessed before the judiciary that he directed the Intercity onto the wrong track.

The opposition accused Mitsotakis and his government of manipulating evidence, particularly leaked radio conversations between the train drivers and a station master that implied the accident was solely due to human error. However, Prime Minister Mitsotakis admitted that there were shortcomings in Greece’s railway system and argued that if it weren’t for these issues, the accident would not have occurred. The judiciary determined this and found that both human error and technical failures contributed to the incident.

The desolate condition of the railway network highlighted shortcomings in Greece’s railway system and led to outrage among many citizens who lost loved ones in the tragic accident. It is still unclear when legal proceedings will begin against those responsible for the incident.