The decision by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to devote virtually all of his introductory statement to the cabinet to the Tempi tragedy demonstrates the fact that political debate deals virtually with one subject. The government seems “trapped” in a debate that does not favour it, but it needs to formulate a strategy both in view of the rallies that are expected to be massive, and in view of the “Hell week” in the Parliament that will begin immediately after the brief respite of Clean Monday.

“The day after tomorrow, too many of our fellow citizens will be in the squares of our country to honor the memory of the victims, to send the obvious message that the truth should shine and the guilty should be punished, to demand from the state – rightly – good and safe transport,” said Mr. Mitsotakis, sealing the effort to “smooth out” the government’s rhetoric and discharge the tension that has been running red hot in recent days.

Mitsotakis, moreover, does not want to put the government against the people, with government officials acknowledging that voters and ND party officials will be among the protesters. On the other hand, Mitsotakis directly referred to an attempt to politically destabilize the government. “We have a duty to prevent the questioning of internal stability and normality in our country. All the more so in a world that is experiencing enormous – tectonic, I would say – turbulence around us. Our country has paid dearly for the ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ squares. It will not experience them again. Our society knows very well where excesses and extremes of all kinds lead. So those who envision the day after tomorrow as a milestone for violent upheavals will meet us head-on,” the prime minister said.

The deadlock and Parliament

There may have been no discussion of the Tempi accident and government management at the ministerial council when the cameras were turned off, but that does not mean that there is no concern in the government staff about prolonging the debate, with the Maximou Mansion unable to achieve the desired change of agenda. In fact, a phrase of the prime minister, after he had spoken about the parliamentary procedures to be launched after Clean Monday, caused discussions and…associations. “If the opposition wishes to do so, then let them table a motion of no-confidence in the government. We will be present. The parliamentary system, after all, has its own rules. One thing is certain: in democracy there are no deadlocks, which is bound to be proven again,” with some even “reading” behind this formulation even scenarios of going to the polls in a second year. People with excellent knowledge of the prime minister’s thinking dismiss the debate out of hand.

In any case, the next week is expected to be explosive. On March 4, the debate on the establishment of a Pre-Investigative Committee regarding Christos Triandopoulos will take place. A pre-agenda debate is scheduled for the 5th, where PASOK‘s motion of no-confidence is expected to be tabled, at which point the clash will come to a head.

The conclusion

By next week, however, the priority is to make public the finding of the EODASAM on the accident in Tempe. In the nearly 200-page conclusion, the organization along with the experts of the European Railway Agency will demonstrate the protocol violations on the night of the tragedy, but also the systemic problems and systemic deficiencies of the Greek railways. They will issue a series of safety warnings addressed to the OECD, Hellenic Train, RAS, the Ministry of Transport, but also the European Commission and will sound the alarm about the absence of safety standards, understaffing of the railways and so on.

As for the deadly explosion, they will cite the conclusion of the University of Ghent that refers to the presence of hydrocarbons by examining the produced pyrosphere using artificial intelligence, but experts will not disregard the Interstar videos, saying that “assuming they are genuine”, they do not capture the presence of a relevant reservoir on the platforms of the commercial train.

However, as EODASAM sources point out, the fire part is a very small section in the overall investigation, which takes a full look at the railroad’s problems.