Main opposition wants expert as civil protection chief
Main opposition New Democracy has called on the country’s civil protection agency to be entrusted to an expert in the field, rejecting the government’s new appointee to the job.
On Monday, Yiannis Tafyllis, director of the Center for Security Studies, an Interior Ministry think tank, took over as Secretary General for Civil Protection following the resignation of Yiannis Kapakis in response to last month’s deadly fires in Attica.
“In an attempt to shake off his own responsibility for the tragedy in eastern Attica, Alexis Tsipras decided to appoint Yiannis Tafyllis, an official with a rich and dark party background, who has already passed through two general secretariats of the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks government, with little to show for it,” New Democracy said in a statement.
“New Democracy urgently calls for the replacement of Mr Tafyllis by a prestigious person with experience in civil protection, as a minimum sign of respect for the 91 dead. The last thing Greece needs is another failed party official to manage crises, which may endanger human lives,” the statement added.