By Penelope Galliou

The debate on the elections on April 9 may have been closed for good, but the government’s constitutional time is running out and the road to the polls remains short. But she is not the same after the tragic accident in Tempe and despite the fact that the answers about the responsibilities and their performance is her primary concern governmentat the same time reshaping its strategy for the next period.

During the time between the polls, the Maximos Palace should have closed every open front that “damages” the image but also the work carried out in the past four years, without, however, admitting that what should have been done was not done , in order to eliminate chronic pathogens, as observed by a government official.

The two-fold will and commitment of the government to fully clarify the causes that caused the accident in Tempe and to restart the railways safely, remains firm and unchanged. At the same time, however, government officials are slowly noticing that the gradual return to everyday life and the broadening of the agenda should begin, so that the pre-election debate is not monothematic, on the occasion of the tragic accident.

In this context, the goal of the ND for the next period is to stop the populism and speculation – as blue-collar officials say – which is attempted mainly by SYRIZA but also by PASOKwho unilaterally talk about responsibilities, ignoring those that fall on these two parties, as parties that managed the fate of the country in previous years.

“To stop political speculation, I would like to clarify that Mr Prime Minister he has a clear picture and excellent knowledge of the structural problems and weaknesses in our State, but also in our country in general. And he is committed to dealing with them with a plan, but also with strong political will. Whether this concerns the defense of the country, whether it concerns the economy and the labor market, whether it concerns the pathologies of the State and the problems of public administration, whether it concerns citizens’ incomes, health, etc. remarked the government spokesman while briefing the political editors and stressing that this attitude also concerns the railways.

“The Prime Minister knew that we received an infrastructure that, while it should have been completed in 2016, was operating at less than 30%. He knew about the efforts to unblock and implement the contract and how the project reached 70%, he knew about the problems, the weaknesses in the railway. So he knew and acknowledged our own responsibility, practically without asterisks and footnotes. However, he does not know, and no Prime Minister knew and could not know, about the behaviors and practices of specific persons, he did not know and could not know who was on shift that night in Larissa, how the shifts are structured, he did not know and he could not have known about the chaos prevailing at the Larissa Station Office, he did not know and could not have known about employees who do not follow the regulations and behave outside the framework. And I think that the magnitude of the tragedy, but also the responsibility and the seriousness that must exist, so that we do not allow any cover-up, but also lead to the complete reconstruction of the railways, is not consistent with the populist opposition approaches to this issue” concluded Yannis Housekeeper.

Under these circumstances and always with respect to the tragic event of Tempe, the Maximos Palace starting from today, it is expected to simultaneously “reheat” the positive government agenda by announcing the new increase in the minimum wage, while a series of favorable regulations are promoted with the Ministry of Labor’s bill that includes extraordinary support, from 200 to 300 euros, to pensioners with personal difference received by low and medium pensions and the provisions that specify the arrangements of debts to social security bodies.