Greece Elects New President Despite MPs’ Walkout Over Train Crash
Source: Balkan Insight
Greece’s parliament on Wednesday elected former parliamentary speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas, the candidate of the ruling New Democracy party, as the country’s new president.
Tasoulas mustered 160 votes; a majority of 151 was required to be elected in what was a fourth round of balloting among MPs.
The centre-left PASOK party’s candidate, Tasos Giannitsis, won 34 votes, the left-wing SYRIZA party’s Louka Katseli won 29 and the far-right Niki party’s Konstantinos Kyriakou won 14.
However, 24 MPs from the leftist New Left and Pleusi Eleftherias parties and some independent MPs did not vote at all, accusing the government of covering up the 2023 Tempi train crash that cost 57 lives.
“Having participated in public life in various capacities, I am well aware of the possibilities of politics that popular sovereignty highlights,” Tasoulas said after his election, “the possibilities of offering work and an example so that the people and our homeland can progress.
“I am also well aware of the weaknesses of politics. Only with the greatest possible joint effort and national and social cohesion can we put these aside, seeking solutions of wider acceptance that stem from genuine dialogue within parliament and in society,” he added.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis congratulated Tasoulas, saying he had already proven himself in various public positions, “and therefore has the respect of all of us”.
But New Left leader Alexis Charitsis disagreed, saying his party would not take part in the vote. He accused the government of “disrespect, trampling on the rule of law, slandering independent authorities, continuing its policy of cover-up and today escalating its regime’s descent with the election of Mr Tasoulas”.
Pleusi Eleftherias’s president, Zoe Konstantopoulou, sent a letter to the speaker expressing her opposition to Tasoulas. In the actual vote, she declared: “No to the cover-up” and left the chamber along with her MPs.
Maria Karystianou, whose 20-year-old daughter died in the train crash, sent a letter to the parliament seeking the cancellation of the vote.
“Shouldn’t MPs know the whole truth about the acts and omissions regarding the Tempi crime of the candidate for the position of President of the Republic, Mr Tasoulas, before the vote? Shouldn’t it be checked whether there was a crime behind these acts and omissions?” she asked.
As the former parliamentary speaker, he is accused of participating in a government effort to cover up and delay investigations into the train crash.
His inauguration will take place on March 13, when the term of the current President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, ends.
The original article: belongs to Balkan Insight .
