“Unfortunate”, SYRIZA member of parliament Petros Pappas called the statement of Nikos Faradouris, party executive, that “it would be wishful thinking for the European Prosecutor to bring down the government”.

Speaking on ERT radio and asked to comment on Mr. Faradouri’s statement, Mr. Pappas said: “Governments rise and fall by the will of the majority of the people.” And he went on to say: “Maybe it was an unfortunate wording, obviously I’m sure Mr. Farandouris didn’t mean that, he’s a moderate politician. I don’t know how it was worded, but from then on what we have to do and it’s our duty is to to defend the procedures, is to convince the Greek people in principle that things are working as they should. And unfortunately the government is not helping in this. It shows a reluctance to expose its ministers to their natural judge. It shows a willingness to cover up facts” added Mr. Pappas.

Regarding the double elections requested by SYRIZA, according to Mr. Pappas, it is a demand of the entire opposition. “That is why he is filing the motion of censure, precisely because he believes that this government must now resign, as it is disproportionate to the trust shown to it by the Greek people just eight months ago. (…) It is 80%, which tends to become 90%, of Greek society, which considers that there is a cover-up in the Tempe accident, I think it is indicative. Even the percentages of the polls, the ones that say the government is going in the wrong direction. I believe that the crack that the rule of law has suffered in Greece is now so critical, but also the very operation of critical sectors, such as the Ministry of the Interior, such as the safeguarding of personal data, but also the attempt to systematically manipulate public opinion and its climax is this cutting, which took place a few hours after the accident, when the wagons were still warm and the bodies had not been recovered. I think the moments are top notch. Now, if the Greek society judges differently, this does not mean that the opposition, and even more so the official opposition, should not point out the important, we consider, deviation that is being made in relation to how our democratic state should function. We have a big crisis, the credibility of the government, the credibility of the procedures, the credibility of the Ministry of the Interior, which will conduct the next European elections,” said Mr. Pappas.

He then clarified that speaking of “diversion”, he refers to the procedures. “Obviously we don’t have a political diversion. Obviously we continue to have a democratic state” he said and noted that the observers do not only observe the electoral process as such and that observation exists anyway.