ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek The centre-right government was spared a motion of no confidence late on Thursday by opposition parties over its handling of the country’s worst rail disaster a year ago.
Four left-wing opposition parties accuse the government of obstructing investigations into the matter railway accident Fifty-seven people died, many of them college students returning from spring break.
Greek train crash kills 57 people, bodies returned to families in closed coffins
After three days of heated debate, Parliament voted 159 to 141 against the motion. The government also rejected opposition calls for early elections.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (center) is applauded by party members during a parliamentary session in Athens, Greece, Thursday, March 28, 2024. Greece’s centre-right government survived a no-confidence motion against it by opposition parties late on Thursday. Dealing with the country’s worst rail disaster. After three days of heated debate, Parliament voted 159 to 141 against the motion. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The accident on February 28, 2023, occurred when a passenger train collided with an oncoming freight train that had been mistakenly placed on the same track.
Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has vowed to respect the outcome of the ongoing judicial investigation into the crash and denies any wrongdoing.
“There is no cover-up,” he told lawmakers before the vote. “What exactly does all this debate (in parliament) contribute to the investigation?”
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Opinion polls show that a majority of the public believes the government has not acted honestly in its responsibility for the accident.
Although failed, the no-confidence motion was the result of a rare collaboration between Greece’s center-left and left-wing parties ahead of June’s European Parliament elections.