MacroPolis

The government relied on its comfortable parliamentary majority to sail through a no-confidence vote on Thursday, triggered by a media report that audio recordings of the Tempe train crash had been doctored to support the narrative that human error was solely to blame for the accident that killed 57 people last year.

However, the vote was overshadowed by the resignation just hours earlier of two high-ranking government officials: Yiannis Bratakos, Deputy Minister to the PM, and State Minister Stavros Papastavrou. Both were close allies of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Just when New Democracy hoped it had escaped persistent questions about its handling of Greece's deadliest train crash following the conclusion of a parliamentary inquiry into the disaster, a report in To Vima newspaper over the weekend put Mitsotakis and his government back under pressure.

The weekly reported that an audio clip from the day of the crash in February 2023, in which the stationmaster in Larissa, central Greece, refers to a train being on the wrong tracks, had been edited to make it appear that he was talking about one of the trains involved in the Tempe crash, when in fact the exchange had taken place earlier in the day, referring to another, local rather than intercity, train.

To Vima reported that the audio clip was published by the pro-government newspaper Proto Thema on 1 March 2023, shortly after the accident, and then played in the Greek media, while official documents show that the police did not receive the recordings until 3 March, raising questions about who downloaded the audio from the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) system before the police received the evidence.

Bratakos and Papastavrou resigned after a media report revealed that they visited To Vima publisher Vangelis Marinakis at his home on Sunday, just hours after the Tempe recordings story was published. The publication prompted a fierce response from the government, which claimed that there was an attempt by business interests to undermine the Mitsotakis administration. Clearly, the fact that the two officials were in the company of Marinakis on Sunday caused the government embarrassment. Their departure was a blow to Mitsotakis, not only because they were close aides, but also because it undermined the government’s argument that it is being targeted by unfriendly oligarchs, a theme that the PM stuck with during his speech in Parliament on Thursday despite the earlier revelations and resignations.

Speculation about the recordings and their possible manipulation adds to existing suspicions about the authorities' handling of the crash, which killed 57 people. The government's defensive stance over the accident, which included limiting the scope of the parliamentary inquiry, has created a sense among voters that New Democracy is trying to stifle a proper investigation into the accident. A poll conducted for Action24 TV last week showed that some 70 pct of Greeks are not satisfied with the government's explanations regarding Tempe.

Citing the report in To Vima, PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis argued that it was time for the government to face greater parliamentary scrutiny over its recent actions. Other opposition parties backed his proposal for a no-confidence motion, which was tabled on Tuesday, sparking a three-day debate followed by the no-confidence vote on Thursday evening. Given that the government had 158 out of 300 MPs going into the vote, the outcome was never in doubt. Rather, it was an exercise for the opposition to expose and embarrass New Democracy, potentially dealing decisive blows ahead of this summer's European Parliament elections, and for the government to mount a robust defence.

The conservatives adopted a strategy of all-out confrontation in the debate, with MPs opting to paint the opposition as hapless and compromised political opportunists rather than answer their questions on the railway disaster.

In perhaps the most symbolically charged moment, New Democracy's parliamentary team applauded Kostas Karamanlis, who resigned as transport minister after the accident. The opposition had previously accused Karamanlis of evading responsibility. On Wednesday, Karamanlis defended his handling of vital safety investments in the railways, blaming his predecessors in SYRIZA for delays that led to their botched execution. He also stood by the government's claim that human error was the main cause of the Tempe accident.

The former minister denied that he was hiding behind immunity from prosecution and called on anyone with evidence against him to come forward. But much of his speech focused on attacking the opposition. Karamanlis accused PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, who spearheaded the no-confidence motion, of being in the pocket of vested interests. The argument that these interests were trying to destabilise the government was echoed by New Democracy MPs.

The Conservatives are hoping that their own show of strength will be imprinted on the public consciousness as a sign of integrity and conviction. This is a risky strategy, given that the weight of public opinion across the political spectrum is on the side of the victims' families, and their doubling down could be interpreted as guilt by association - hence the appeal to stability, which New Democracy has identified as its greatest asset. The incident involving Bratakos and Papastavrou is damaging for the government in this respect.

There has also been competition between the opposition parties in recent days, particularly SYRIZA and PASOK. SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis seemed to question the usefulness of the no-confidence motion, although his party supported it. Both parties are keen to be seen at the forefront of opposition to the centre-right government, in the hope that this will make a mark on voters' minds ahead of the European Parliament elections. After losing second place in the opinion polls to PASOK following the election of Kasselakis as party leader last September, SYRIZA has regained its place in recent weeks.

Coming second in the EP vote would be a victory of sorts for Kasselakis, one that his troubled leadership desperately needs. On the other hand, failure to overtake a fractious and troubled SYRIZA could spell the end of Androulakis' leadership of PASOK. It is therefore not surprising that the socialist leader wants to be at the forefront of efforts to hold the government to account.