ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s centre-right government survived a no-confidence motion filed late Thursday by opposition parties over its handling of the country’s deadliest train disaster a year ago.
Four left-wing opposition parties accused the government of obstructing the investigation into the train accident that killed 57 people, many of them university students returning home from spring break.
Greek train crash kills 57; bodies returned to family in closed coffins
Parliament voted 159 to 141 against the motion after three days of heated debate. The government also rejected opposition parties’ demands to hold snap elections.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (center) receives applause from members of his own party during a parliamentary session in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Greece’s centre-right government survived a motion of no confidence by the opposition late Thursday. Responding to the nation’s deadliest rail disaster. Parliament voted 159 to 141 against the motion after three days of heated debate. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakoulis)
The February 28, 2023 accident occurred when a passenger train accidentally collided with an oncoming freight train that was on the same track.
Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has vowed to respect the outcome of the ongoing judicial inquiry into the crash and denied any wrongdoing.
“There was no cover-up,” he told lawmakers before the vote. “What exactly did this discussion (in Congress) contribute to the investigation?”
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According to public opinion polls, a majority of the public believes that the government has not been sincere in its responsibility for the accident.
Despite the defeat, the no-confidence motion was the result of a rare collaboration between Greece’s centre-left and left-wing parties ahead of June’s European Parliament elections.
