Experts committee tasked with probing rail crash announced; opposition reacts
The government on Friday announced the formation of the committee of experts to investigate this week’s killer train collision without, however, the consensus of opposition parties.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had tasked new Transport Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis to set up the committee immediately upon assuming his new duties.
In a statement, SYRIZA stressed that it is the premier who should be asked the questions and that “it is not possible for the person being audited to be an auditor at the same time.”
It also noted the “eagerness of Mr Mitsotakis to talk about human error before the investigation begins.”
SYRIZA criticized the government, saying that “if it wanted an inter-party committee, it could have asked for proposals from all parties,” and that what the prime minister wants is “a convenient pre-election conclusion that would validate the verdict he has already reached.”
The statement concluded that the causes must be investigated by the “competent authorities.”
For its part, PASOK also refused to enter into a discussion on the composition of the committee for two reasons: firstly, since, according to party sources, the prime minister has already concluded with his announcement that it is a human error and, secondly, the committee has not been classified as an inter-party committee, so there is no reason to get involved.
The government said on Friday the special committee will “investigate and highlight the systemic problems and malfunctions that led to the Tempe rail tragedy.”
The committee has three members – Ioannis Konstantinos Chalkias, honorary president of the State Legal Council (chairman), Athanasios Ziliaskopoulos, professor of transport and production in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Thessaly, and Vassilios Profillidis, professor of transport engineering at the Democritus University of Thrace.
