Tempe train crash: Opposition MP calls on minister to heed public petition
An opposition lawmaker on Monday called on Interior Minister Niki Kerameus to take steps that would satisfy a public petition for former transport ministers to be prosecuted for the deadly train crash at Tempe last year.
The petition, started on March 23 by the mother of one of the 57 victims of the crash in central Greece, calls for the abolition of immunity for ministers and an inquiry into the role of the ministers responsible for train safety. “The impunity of politicians is not consistent with morality, nor with democracy, virtues of which we are proud,” the accompanying text reads. At the time of writing, it had amassed almost 1.3 million signatures.
“The government must respect the wishes of over one million citizens who support the relevant petition of the relatives of the victims,” SYRIZA’s Vassilis Kokkalis said. But the government must first table an implementing law that has been pending since 2022 and would activate the law allowing citizens to propose legislation, he added.
The Greek Constitution stipulates that only parliament can pursue action against serving or former ministers or undersecretaries over possible criminal offences during the discharge of their duties. But in the amended Constitution of 2019, Article 73, paragraph 6 states that citizens may put forth legislative proposals to parliament if their petition is signed by at least 500,000 people.
The train crash, which saw two trains heading in the opposite direction crash in a head-on collision, left 57 dead and many more injured, sparking public outrage over the state of railway infrastructure and the failure of successive governments to implement basic safety measures.
