ND slams Tsipras’s early Monday visit to Mati as PR stunt
Greece’s conservative opposition dismissed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s visit to a seaside resort that was last Monday ravaged by a deadly wildfire as a “publicity stunt” aimed at deflecting public attention from the government’s failings during the tragedy.
In a statement, New Democracy said “an entire week passed since the national tragedy before Mr Tsipras could visit Mati like a thief, and in a totally protected environment.”
“The people, however, are no longer convinced by publicity stunts. They want to know the whole truth as to how so many lives were lost for no reason,” the party said.
“Mr Tsipras must realize that [people] must be held accountable for the mistakes and omissions made on July 23,” it said.
Tsipras visited Mati early Monday morning tweeting that he spoke with “citizens, engineers, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers.” His office released photos and the prime minister took along a camera from public broadcaster ERT. No other media was alerted.
On Sunday, fire officials raised the fire death toll to 91 and reported that 25 people were missing.
