Greece’s ruling party, New Democracy, has proposed the formation of a parliamentary preliminary investigation committee over the Tempe train disaster – but the proposal would only concern former Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis and solely on the lesser charge of breach of duty, according to state broadcaster ERT.

ERT also reports that while New Democracy attributes some responsibility to Christos Spirtzis, who served as Transport Minister under the SYRIZA government, he is not included in the proposal because any potential offence is now time-barred. It’s also noted that the Justice Ministry’s referral concerns only ministers, explicitly excluding deputy ministers.

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said during yesterday’s press briefing that “in the next few days, we will table our own proposal for the inquiry.”

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis had already hinted at this direction, stating recently that “we’re not going to refer anyone on felony charges if such charges are not substantiated in any way.” He added that if, at any point, the Judicial Council sees grounds to interpret matters differently, it retains the right to send the case back to Parliament, and “we will, in any case, respect the decisions of the judiciary.”

PASOK has already submitted its own proposal for an investigation. A joint proposal from SYRIZA and New Left is also expected. The Greek Communist Party (KKE) has said it will support the formation of the parliamentary investigation committee, although it maintains its own reasoning.

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