The Greek Parliament met on Thursday evening to vote on a motion of no confidence against the government of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. However, the motion was rejected with 159 MPs voting against it and 141 parliamentarians voting in favor. As a result, 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 of the motion was a serious train accident that occurred about a year ago, when a freight train collided with an Intercity near the central Greek city of Larisa, resulting in the death of 57 people.
The Larissa station manager confessed before the judiciary that he directed the Intercity onto the wrong track, but this did not stop opposition parties from accusing the government of manipulating evidence. They pointed to leaked radio conversations between the train drivers and a station master that implied the accident was solely due to human error on their part.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis admitted that there were shortcomings in Greece’s railway system but argued that if it had been operating correctly at the time, then neither he nor anyone else would have been held accountable for this tragic event. The investigation revealed poor conditions of the railway network and inadequate safety precautions which led to this incident.
The train accident deeply shocked Greece, especially as many victims were young people returning home after a public holiday. It highlighted shortcomings in Greece’s railway system which remains unclear when it will be dealt with in court.