Next week, PASOK will submit a motion of no confidence against the government, as announced by the party’s president, Nikos Androulakis.

Speaking to SKAI, the PASOK leader made his first remarks following the publication of the EODASAAM report.

“I think anyone who watched the press conference saw the evidence that we have been focusing on for months, and it all leads to one conclusion: there are serious responsibilities on the part of the ND government—criminal mistakes. That is why I will take immediate initiative to submit a motion of no confidence,” he said on SKAI television, adding:

“This report shows that Contract 717—the agreement for implementing remote train control—was a critical factor in preventing this tragedy from ever happening. What did these experts say today? Exactly what the initial three-member committee had said: that if remote train control had been in place, these two trains would never have collided. When we proposed a preliminary investigation into this exact matter, how did ND vote? No. Meaning, they did not allow the minister responsible for implementing the project to be held accountable by the judiciary. Instead, they gave him a standing ovation.”

“A second issue—this tragedy. You heard about the ignition, the explosion, which took the lives of 5-7 people beyond those who were killed in the initial crash. The ignition was caused by an unknown fuel. So, for two years, the government and the prime minister misled the Greek people, deceiving them on a highly critical matter, effectively doing everything they could to cover up their political responsibilities. Why is the fuel unknown? Because certain individuals, in those crucial hours, without any judicial order, held a meeting and decided to tamper with the site. As a result, sample collection was significantly delayed, preventing the report from identifying the specific fuel responsible for the ignition. Is this not a cover-up and concealment of evidence?”

“According to this report, should Mr. Floridis have remained a minister until today?” Androulakis continued. “He told us that those who spoke of a cover-up were talking nonsense. But if they did not respect the sanctity of the accident site, then the cover-up was a crucial link in the distortion of evidence. If there were any sense of accountability, he should have resigned long ago.”

“In the parliamentary inquiry, they did not allow Triantopoulos—the man who was there from the very beginning—to testify. Instead, they brought in ministers from 15 years ago, but ND blocked a key witness. And then, two years later, the prime minister comes out and says, ‘It wasn’t our finest moment.’ Well, then, who appointed them as ministers afterward?”

He also emphasized that “whenever ND faces something that threatens its grip on power, it proves that it is willing to do anything to hold onto it.”

Responding to a question about polls and the apparent difficulty in forming the next government, Androulakis commented, “Polls are nice, but it’s the people who vote.”

“If elections are held, the people will decide. Next week, we are submitting a motion of no confidence. We need a political change that respects the people,” he added.

“When you submit a motion of no confidence, you do it to bring down the government and call elections. I don’t constantly call for elections because that’s an old-school political mentality. Elections are in the hands of the prime minister. In my hands, there is only one tool to force elections: the motion of no confidence. And we will file it next week.”