Giorgos Papandreou, speaking a while ago in the Parliament, criticized the attitude of the government in the investigation of the tragedy of Tempe and responded to the criticisms against PASOK for its decision to raise the issue of no confidence. “No, dear ND colleagues, we were not led here – to the PASOK-Movement for Change initiative, which was supported by the other three parties – no entanglement. You, ND, led us here. Because you serve the powerful elite. You undermine the self-evident of a democratic state. Concealing your own unfair practices,” the former prime minister and current PASOK-KINAL MP said comparatively.

Mr. Papandreou cited the report to the Commission of Inquiry of Ms. Karystianou. “What a disgrace, what a shame… Is my country like this?” – to underline that “the crime that was predictable – as we now know from reports – was a product of bribes, client management, opacity and corruption”.

“You brought us here because there is also a new crime. Ongoing. Because if the first was predictable, the second was predetermined. It is the crime of systematic cover-up. A crime that continues at the expense of justice, transparency, democracy and ultimately, the interests and the unity of the Greek people”, emphasized George Papandreou and noted: “You have awakened democratic reflexes. You highlighted -unwittingly- with your choices, the importance, the decisive importance of democracy for security, prosperity, progress, equality, for a rule of law that will guard the dignity of every citizen, of every Greek and of Hellenism whole. This is perhaps the only, but important, conclusion from this tragedy and ongoing adventure.”

As the former Prime Minister stated “the Democratic Party brought institutions that strengthened meritocracy, transparency in the management of the Greek people’s money, the decentralization of power, so that it is controlled by the people, a social state that aims at the certainty, security of every weak, democratic consultation and participation for effective decisions, separation of powers to control arbitrariness and greed. The rule of law. In this fight we always stay loyal”.

He also argued that the real issues, the real dilemmas, highlighted by the Tempe tragedy can be summed up in two words: Rule of Law. With the signatures of one million three hundred thousand citizens, the demand for the Rule of Law and Justice was raised.

He severely criticized the ND for the Rule of Law, saying that, in addition to a recent resolution of the European Parliament, there was “another resolution of the European Parliament, which you had requested – together with SYRIZA. For the crisis of 2009. There it is clearly stated that the unreliability of the country was due to the statistical fraud of the ND government. That’s why you disappeared that resolution. That is why he did not see anything and the justice. I expected some conclusions to be drawn from the crisis at the time.”

“The great democratic challenge of our time is whether we politicians will express without dependencies, without selfishness, the wider interests of the people or will we be slaves, captives or even shareholders in the party of the big interests. If we are going to defend the autonomy of politics. This is still today the great dividing line of our policies”, he noted, referring to what the Governor of the Bank of Greece said yesterday:

“He specifically says: “There are sectors that clearly have an oligopolistic structure and this is proven by the spreads and margins. Greece needs more competition, because as it appears from studies by the Bank of Greece, we have oligopolies in food, fuel, banks and private hospital care”. So where are the strong democratic institutions that will protect the citizen from the arbitrariness of the powerful?

Where are the democratic processes and culture that will protect and liberate Hellenism from the regime’s perceptions. Perceptions that value power and accept as a practice kone, baza, magia and finally, the “bazoma” of the truth?”, pointed out the former prime minister.