Greek Parliament Rejects Motion of No Confidence Against Government over Train Accident

The Greek Parliament met on Thursday evening to vote on a motion of no confidence against the government of conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, but the motion was rejected. The parliamentary presidency announced that 159 MPs voted against the opposition’s motion, while 141 parliamentarians voted in favor. As a result, the government under Mitsotakis remains in office. The social democratic party Pasok requested the vote of no confidence and was supported by all opposition parties.

The focus of the motion was a serious train accident that occurred about a year ago, when a freight train collided with an Intercity near the central Greek city of Larisa, resulting in the death of 57 people. The Larisa station manager confessed before the judiciary that he directed the Intercity onto the wrong track. The opposition accused the government of manipulating evidence, particularly leaked radio conversations between the train drivers and a station master that implied the accident was solely due to the station manager’s mistakes.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis admitted that the state bore some responsibility for