I did not hide, I am not hiding, and I will not hide behind any parliamentary immunity, said Mr Kostas Ah. Karamanlis for Tempi in his speech to the Parliament in the context of the motion of no confidence submitted by opposition parties.

“For such a serious issue, I position myself exclusively and only institutionally. I myself had requested a proposal to set up a pre-investigation committee for Tempi with a specific indictment to see which is based here in Parliament, not in popular courts. I didn’t hide, I don’t hide, and I won’t hide behind any parliamentary immunity,” said the former Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.

Regarding contract 717, Mr. Karamanlis said that when it came into his hands, he should have completed it, instead of canceling it.

“When was the 717 supposed to be completed? In 2016. When was it completed? In 2023. After we pulled it off and it was finally completed by this government. They involved the Greek public in an adventure. They made it the public fault for the delays… When the contract reached my hands I had to continue it and complete it, otherwise I would have come into conflict with the decision of the Greek justice and the Court of Auditors. This is the reality and the opposition knows it.”

On the fateful night we had an accumulation of mistakes and a subsequent violation of the regulations, the ND deputy also mentioned.

I took the political responsibility… It is a cover-up to spread fake news, to step on human pain, to spread hate by dark mechanisms on the internet.

“ND never did grave digging after Mati and Mandra. We criticized harshly, but we did not seek the physical extermination of our political opponents. We didn’t see the tragedy as an opportunity,” he said.

You think I don’t shudder to think about the drama of so many families? he wondered. From the first moment we were at the scene of the tragedy, both I and the prime minister. These images will never fade from my memory.

We did not play political theater as others did in Mati, I immediately resigned, which is unusual for the political things of our time… It hurts me more that we have not been able to eradicate sick attitudes of irresponsibility.

I bow with respect to the families of the victims, no one, let alone me, can feel the pain of their loss, said Mr. Karamanlis in his statement to the Parliament.

Absolute respect, however, also means conscious refraining from exploiting human suffering. No one in this room wants the truth to shine more than I do, he said.

They also threw mud at the electorate because they honored me with their vote while their leader was not elected and got 17%. I repeat: I never hid, nor am I hiding now, behind any parliamentary immunity. I have no parliamentary immunity for Tempi, said Mr. Karamanlis. The matter falls under Article 85 of the Constitution, he added.

“The faction will not hand over the country to the gatekeepers of vested interests,” he said.

“I look you in the eyes, with absolute respect for the memories of those who were lost and their families.” And he concluded by saying: “Whoever has evidence against me, let him bring it.”