The president of the SYRIZA-PS Parliamentary Group, Sokratis Famellos, launched a harsh attack on the government and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his speech to the Parliament on the motion of no confidence, accusing him of “implementing a cover-up plan for the crime of Tempo and added that we managed to we bring to Parliament to apologize to which you had insulted by your absence last week”.

He explained the co-submission of the motion of censure by saying: “We are not the only ones who distrust your government. The vast majority of Greek society is distrustful. And this social majority was responded to by SYRIZA – Progressive Alliance. And the democratic opposition parties. And we will not take your permission to perform our democratic and constitutional duty. To society we apologize, not to you.” He then underlined: “We submitted the motion of no confidence in the government because we have as a principle the cooperation of the progressive forces. The issues of democracy, transparency, are priority issues for us”.

After noting that the government will get the votes of the majority of MPs, he added: “This does not mean that you also enjoy the trust of society. In society there is also a deep conviction that a cover-up plan is being implemented, under your own responsibility, Mr. Mitsotakis. In society there is also a reaction to yesterday’s appearance of the unrepentant Mr. Karamanlis and the vulgar Mr. Floridis, who first of all affected the relatives and parents”.

He referred to yesterday’s speech by Costas Karamanlis, saying: “There is a reaction in society, however, to the applause and celebrations of the KO when Mr. Karamanlis was speaking. Why exactly were you celebrating? For the accident? We must remain silent in the face of this asymmetric pain.” . Generalizing, he noted: “The pattern of your policy is simple and repetitive. You implement your economic and political plan, without considering institutions, rules of transparency, independent authorities and the Constitution.” He hinted at “conspiracy theories and government destabilization” by saying: “With such unprecedented communications support and immunity, … it seems inconceivable to you that a media outlet exposes your scandals. And when your responsibilities are exposed as in wiretapping, in the Petcha list, in crime of Tempes or in the leakage of personal data, first things that see the light of day are denied, then they are allegedly investigated, and then – if society insists – “some expendable culprits” are found, even if it is, for example, Mr. Dimitriadis or recently Ms. Asimakopoulou , and then the case is forgotten…”. He accused the prime minister of “having many commitments in political and economic fireplaces” and added: “But now the responsibilities can no longer be spread to your other officials, because all the important violations of democratic norms referred to in the motion of no confidence:

The Tempe crime cover-up, wiretapping and illegal use of malware, threats to independent authorities and top judges, and the illegal use of personal data for vote-hunting purposes were planned, orchestrated, and executed by the NT central apparatus. The responsibilities now lie with Maximos and the central offices of Piraeus. A scapegoat is not enough, even if it is Mr. Karamanlis. Mr. Mitsotakis is responsible. This is why the SYRIZA PS, through the mouth of the president Stefanos Kasselakis, put the holding of elections as the only political way out. So that there is a truly unbiased investigation into all the major scandals that come to light.”

Continuing the reference to Tempi, he said: “The investigation into the tragedy in Tempi lacks impartiality. Mr. Karamanlis yesterday asked us to submit a proposal for a preliminary committee, when you already rejected the proposal based on your choice of European prosecutor, which was also condemned by the European Parliament.”

He also referred to the “eavesdropping scandal”, saying: “It is not a simple thing, in a Eurozone country, to find half the cabinet and the head of the National Security Agency under surveillance. And instead of getting answers, the Prime Minister himself targeted the President of ADAE Mr. Rammos, giving him false servile motives because he was simply doing his job. And changing the composition of ADAE, just before the meeting that would examine the responsibilities of the EYP and the government”. He continued with “the personal data leak scandal” claiming: “You chose to sacrifice Mrs. Asimakopoulou, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Secretary of the ND emigrants. And apparently this case is not closed, but opened with the resignations. The questions are increasing after and Mrs. Asimakopoulou’s statement that she got the data from the ND’s expatriate secretary. And in fact that she got it in January 2024. That is, she admits the corruption inside the ND’s party offices contrary to what she stated after the first revelation of the scandal. And do you want to convince us that this was done only for Mrs. Asimakopoulou and not for the rest of your politicians? And only for the data that the Ministry of the Interior has? And you did not know Mr. Mitsotakis what is going on in your party? Mr. Marinakis is there a case that he did not know, while during the disputed period when the data was leaked he was the secretary of the party? Pay attention. Based on the statements of Marinakis and Asimakopoulou it appears that the journey of the data to the ND took at least 7 months, who knows through which hands it passed!!! And if Mr. Marinakis, then secretary of the ND, wonders why he has not yet been called to give an explanation, I have to tell him that I wonder too! How can we trust the reliability of the procedures and operations of the Ministry of the Interior, when Mr. Marinakis himself admitted that at least 3 of your officials violated the data protection rule for vote-hunting reasons?”.

Returning to the “crime of Tempo”, he said: “A crime for which there are responsibilities for Mr. Karamanlis and Mr. Karagiannis. Because there were written notices about the situation on the railway. Because they knew!”.

Generalizing, he asserted: “But what has angered Greek society is the cover-up plan, which is the responsibility of Mr. Mitsotakis personally. A plan that is increasingly being revealed. With the witnesses who were killed, the investigative material that is missing, the answers about the goods of the commercial train, the rigging. Regarding the rigging, yesterday, Mr. Triandopoulos was once again exposed with his speech in the Plenary. He tried to deny any involvement, while Mr. Pleuris in the examination has named him as the head of the echelon, as he was also photographed by Mr. Agorastos in August 2023, and he himself boasted in broadcasts that he was personally responsible for the site restoration work from March 2 to 7.”

He referred to the “recent revelations about editing of the audio documents from the tragedy that prove that the government in the first hours of this unspeakable tragedy, its first concern was to cover up and create another reality to absolve its own responsibilities and that is very serious”.

He then addressed the prime minister: “Mr. Mitsotakis, you must tell us today who informed you? These falsified conversations have also misled the debate in the investigative committee many times. And certainly – based on the search for who benefited from this illegal recovery and falsification of audios documents-, the answer is clearly Mr. Mitsotakis. And when from the information that has emerged in the investigation, there is a conflict with the testimony of the current president of the OSE, Mr. Terezakis,

with the announcement of the police who stated that they took the audios on March 03, 2023. What you are now confirming is that while not all the rescue crews had yet arrived at the scene of the accident some were implementing a plan of deception and cover-up. Why and what interests were behind this plan must be answered by the government.”

He also referred to yesterday’s speech by Costas Karamanlis: “Inferior to the circumstances. Provocative, unrepentant, he appeared in Parliament. He falsely stated that he is not “hiding” behind parliamentary immunity for the crime of Tempi, while it is known that he is covered by another provision of the Constitution , the one about the responsibility of ministers!!! Even in these tragic moments he lied. He provoked us to submit a request for a preliminary committee, which, as Mr. Voridis has already stated in the Parliament, they will reject! If Mr. Karamanlis is honest, and you want him to be put at the disposal of justice, then not to hide behind the rest of the ND MPs, not to use the provision on the responsibility of Ministers. Let all the parties agree on a preliminary committee for Mr. Karamanlis, which will refer him to the justice. Because only the formation of a preliminary is not enough. As long as you are capable of forming it and acquitting him through the conclusion, possibly even after the European elections in order to avoid political costs. So pledge that you will allow everything to be checked by the justice system, and of course all the investigative material that we expect will be used, without worrying about partisan motives, without worrying about a cover-up by the ND and without restrictions on witnesses, available case files, etc. We are waiting for an answer.

Condensing, he said: “The government has now collected many dark and black pages in its resume:

Responsibilities for the tragic accident and to which is added the cover-up, the tampering, the falsification of audio documents. Wiretapping. Leakage of personal data. All the scandals point to Mr. Mitsotakis. Everything points to an organized mechanism within the ND party that violates the rule of law.”