With the central slogan “We start for hope”, Maria Karystianou announced via social media her official entry into the political arena, choosing April 1, 2026, as a milestone date to mark her first personal step in the country’s political arena.

On the day of the official start of the Tempi trial in Larissa, but also the birthday anniversary of her daughter, a victim of the Tempi accident, Marti – Maria Karustianou presented her “movement” online, whose name and founding declaration will be announced, as she stressed in her post, in the next period of time.

Ξεκινάμε πρώτη του μήνα για την πρωτιά στη δράση για ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ και ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ!
Από το «Εγώ» στο «Εμείς»

Υπάρχουν στιγμές στην ιστορία ενός τόπου που η σιωπή γίνεται πιο βαριά από την ίδια την αδικία. Σε μια τέτοια στιγμή, επιλέξαμε να μιλήσουμε. Όχι γιατί είναι εύκολο, αλλά…

— Maria Karystianou (@mkaristianou) April 1, 2026

On the contrary, the aim of “Xekiname”, as noted on the movement’s website, is to “fight for the rebirth of Greece and for a truly democratic rule of law, which gives priority to the citizen and takes care of everyone without discrimination, with justice, transparency, equality, equity, accountability and dignity”, with the time for its full operation counting down, as was made clear by the spot accompanying the announcement.

An hourglass counting down the time and a white pigeon that was released, as soon as the hourglass was empty, to fly upwards, sent the message of Maria Karystianou’s full political activation, at a moment when the judicial developments in the complex case of Tempi are culminating, with photographic snapshots from the magnificent gatherings being reproduced as a background on the website of “Xekiname”.

On a programmatic level, the movement’s website makes specific extensive references to issues of justice, transparency, democracy and “impunity”, with Maria Karystianou playing a central role, as she “attracted the attention of the entire society, but also the rallying of a huge part of it. Not just because she represented a part of it, but because she expressed something deeper and collective”, as noted. In the same vein, “its courage to stand up against corruption, to speak out against the darker aspects of a client system that had gone unpunished for decades, became an inspiration for countless people and gave birth to a great hope”, it is underlined in this regard, without giving more details about the founding core or the leading figures of the movement. However, a flurry of activity prevailed yesterday on the pages of Maria Karystianou’s supporters on social networks, as the reproduction of her message evolved en masse, with a focus especially on the youth community.

However, the website of “Ξεkίvάμε” is addressed to citizens in the first person plural, while the possibility is provided for those interested to register their participation in the project, without any indication at the moment about the next moves of the former President of the Association of Relatives of Victims of Tempi.

It is not excluded, moreover, that the persons who will accompany Mrs. Karystianou will appear at the same time as the official name and positions of the organization, by which she will be judged in the future, as her political opponents point out.

The reactions

Already, behind the scenes, several members of the opposition parties commented yesterday that Maria Karystianou will in the future be confronted with her ideological and programmatic orientation, wanting to demonstrate that the tone will be higher against her.

Although the opposition benches did not fall from the clouds upon the announcement of her initiative, several initially noted that they thought she would leave some time after the trial had begun to put her cards on the table.

At the same time, however, the fact that this period of time is characterized by potential hot spots for the government constitutes a momentum, which apparently did not leave Maria Karystianou indifferent, according to experienced political officials, who see the head of “Ξεκιнаμε” rapidly accelerating her plans.

However, Stefanos Kasselakis took a positive view of Maria Karystianou’s descent into politics, saying that “I welcome Maria Karystianou to active politics. We both demand the cleansing of the political system and the abolition of all political immunities, starting with the immunity of ministers through the despicable Article 86. Democracy grows stronger when citizens have healthy choices.” Moreover, the non-democratic way of addressing Ms. Karystianou, who chose to address Greek society through social networks, is strongly reminiscent of the communication mechanism of Stefanos Kasselakis during his days in SYRIZA PS, avoiding exposure in the public sphere.