Behind the closed doors of Room 223, located on the second floor of the Hellenic Parliament, the most peculiar and possibly decisive battle over the progress of the Tempi preliminary inquiry will take place.

The move by former Deputy Minister Christos Triantopoulos to request that Parliament indict him and refer him to the Judicial Council for further proceedings has caused a structural shift in the stance of nearly all political parties. Their new positions are now in direct contradiction with what they had previously advocated.

The government majority is now pushing for prosecution against its former deputy minister, fully adopting the opposition’s prior stance. Meanwhile, PASOK and SYRIZA have reversed their positions, now condemning as an “attempted cover-up” the very process they had recently demanded. They argue that the Parliamentary Inquiry (where decisions are made by a majority controlled by ND) can conduct a more thorough investigation than senior judges selected by random draw rather than appointment.

This shift in positions is perhaps yet another indication that nearly all parties, over time, approach parliamentary inquiries with political and communication interests in mind rather than a genuine pursuit of truth.

Ultimately, however, the New Democracy initiative to support the charges against Triantopoulos—charges endorsed by an overwhelming 277 MPs in the Plenary Session—and to refer one of its own members to the Judicial Council in a fast-track process can hardly be labeled an “attempted cover-up” or an effort to “bury” potential criminal responsibilities.

It should be noted that legal expert Nikos Alivizatos has also endorsed this approach as the preferable course of action. “Do we trust New Democracy’s majority, meaning the governing party, more than an investigating judge chosen by random draw, who has extensive powers? That is the crucial question,” he said, commenting on the opposition’s reactions on SKAI radio. He further emphasized, “It cannot be claimed that the court or the five-member Judicial Council mandated by law is rigged. The draw happens in Parliament, in full view of Parliament. If they believe that no matter who is selected, they are compromised, then I am very sorry—there is no rule of law. A party cannot seriously hold such a position. I fear this undermines everything.”

Alivizatos also clarified that the Judicial Council has the authority to expand the charges if its investigation uncovers additional criminal offenses by Triantopoulos or implicates other ministers.

ND: Sufficient Evidence for Referral

According to sources, ND’s final stance was determined in a meeting held on Wednesday afternoon, where the case file and the prosecutor’s order attributing responsibility for tampering with the accident site were thoroughly analyzed.

The same sources told protothema.gr that the majority’s final recommendation, to be presented today by Konstantina Karampatsoli, will state that the evidence in the case file regarding the “cover-up” is sufficient for drafting a report and immediately referring Triantopoulos to the Judicial Council for misconduct in office.

ND’s proposal, likely to pass in a vote, will invite other parties to draft their own reports and present them at a new committee session within 15 days, which will likely be the final meeting. Additionally, ND will propose compiling a list of witnesses to be submitted to the Judicial Council along with the referral file.

PASOK: The Inquiry Should Remain in Parliament

The opposition has already made it clear that it will not support ND’s proposal. A heated confrontation with the government is expected, with speeches by party leaders in a parallel session in the Plenary Hall starting at 9:00 AM.

PASOK is advocating a hardline yet “institutional” stance, insisting that the inquiry should remain under the jurisdiction of Parliament.

PASOK’s shift in argumentation has drawn sharp criticism from ND, which points out that PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis and his MPs had previously demanded Triantopoulos’ direct referral to judicial authorities.

“Does PASOK still want to see Triantopoulos tried by the proper court, as it emphatically demanded? Or now that Triantopoulos himself is seeking it, has PASOK changed its stance? Is this purely about politicizing the Tempi tragedy?” sources from ND headquarters at Syngrou Avenue stated, releasing a video compilation of past statements by top PASOK officials.

At the same time, tensions between the Prime Minister’s office and PASOK escalated over a PASOK statement that included past remarks by Kyriakos Mitsotakis in 2018 condemning the then SYRIZA government’s handling of the Novartis case.

“PASOK, in its attempt to justify the unjustifiable with this unprecedented and absurd equivalence, is essentially whitewashing the orchestrated Novartis conspiracy, whose victims included its own members,” government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis declared.

Earlier, PASOK spokesperson Kostas Tsoukalas had recalled that during the 2018 parliamentary discussion on the Novartis inquiry, Kyriakos Mitsotakis had said: “Do not dare to close the inquiry without bringing everything to light.”

“Yesterday, he posted that the inquiry does not need to function, even though he voted for its establishment just days ago. What changed? Why doesn’t he want the inquiry to proceed? Why does he refuse to allow witnesses to testify?” Tsoukalas asked.

However, government officials stress that there is no comparison between the Triantopoulos case and SYRIZA’s actions in the Novartis affair, where ten political opponents were “hung out to dry.”

“Back then, the SYRIZA-ANEL majority shut down the Novartis Inquiry, citing supposed lack of jurisdiction, without filing any charges. Seeing their political trap collapse due to false witnesses, they abruptly closed the inquiry and, to cover up the scandal’s downfall, they pretended to hand the case over to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office to restart the investigation from scratch. That was what Kyriakos Mitsotakis condemned at the time.

What we have now is the exact opposite of the Triantopoulos proposal, where he himself is requesting referral to the proper court to clear his name. SYRIZA shut down the inquiry to hide its collapsing conspiracy. We are asking the inquiry to fully expose the facts through a proper trial,” government sources clarified.

SYRIZA Walks Out

SYRIZA appears poised to denounce the process and walk out of the inquiry, refusing to legitimize what its MPs will label as “unconstitutional” and “anti-institutional” actions by the majority.

Notably, SYRIZA MP Vasilis Kokkalis, who will present the party’s stance, had just a month ago written an article advocating Triantopoulos’ direct referral to the courts and for the case to be “disentangled from parliamentary institutions.”