The parliamentary landscape is changing following Maria Karystianou‘s appeal to opposition parties to withdraw their individual proposals for establishing a preliminary investigative committee and instead co-sign her text. The severe indictment presented by the president of the Tempi Victims’ Association, which includes calls for charges as serious as “high treason,” appears to serve as a binding agent for the formation of a new, diverse parliamentary alliance involving Zoe Konstantopoulou, Kyriakos Velopoulos, Stefanos Kasselakis, MPs from the Niki party, and four former Spartans. However, the latter ultimately did not sign the proposal that was submitted to Parliament early Thursday evening.

In this way, and after nearly two years during which the leaders of Course of Freedom and Greek Solution have been espousing and nurturing almost identical theories about the causes of the fireball (Tempi train crash) and the actual number of victims, the time has come for a unification of forces and coordinated action.

The question that remains is whether, by the end of this collaboration, Mr. Velopoulos and the other allied forces will manage to reap the political gains they expect—or if they will suffer the same polling fate as those in the recent past who aligned themselves as the “tail” of Ms. Konstantopoulou.

In any case, Karystianou’s move has disrupted the opportunistic cooperation between SYRIZA and the Democracy Movement. The six MPs aligned with Stefanos Kasselakis withdrew their signatures from the joint proposal, and now the proposal from Koumoundourou (SYRIZA headquarters) lacks the minimum required support of 30 MPs to be introduced for plenary discussion and vote.

Three proposals targeting 14 former ministers

Currently, based on the new parliamentary landscape, the proposals for a preliminary investigative committee from New Democracy (ND) and PASOK remain on the Speaker’s table. By Friday afternoon, June 6, 2025, the “allied” proposal based on Karystianou’s text is also expected to be submitted with the required minimum of 30 signatures.

According to official statements, a total of 36 MPs intend to sign Karystianou’s text:
11 from Greek Solution
9 from Niki
6 from Course of Freedom
6 independents aligned with Stefanos Kasselakis
4 independent former Spartans (K. Floros, D. Valtogiannis, G. Manousos, I. Dimitrokallis)

It is noted that the ND proposal seeks a preliminary investigation only for former Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Kostas Karamanlis.

The PASOK proposal (from Harilaou Trikoupi) includes Karamanlis, Christos Spirtzis, and six more deputy ministers from the 2016–2023 period. Karystianou’s proposal targets a total of 11 individuals.

The final debate on the three proposals will most likely take place in Parliament during the week of July 16–20. According to the plan, 14 ballot boxes will be set up—one for each individual named in the motions for a preliminary investigation. Likewise, MPs will receive 14 ballots, each bearing the name of a former minister proposed for referral and the corresponding alleged offenses, compiled from all three proposals.