Families of the victims of the Tempe train disaster have accused him of being complicit in the cover-up of the case during his tenure as Speaker of Parliament. The election has also raised concerns about the lack of parliamentary consensus, with the fairness of the process being questionned.

Konstantinos Tasoulas was elected to be the new President of the Hellenic Republic this morning, 12 February, following the fourth round of voting in Parliament. He secured 160 votes, while 24 MPs abstained. In total, 276 MPs participated in the vote, with 24 abstaining.

It is worth noting that 151 votes were required for election in today’s fourth and final round of voting. In the previous three rounds, which failed to produce a result, Mr Tasoulas also secured 160 votes, largely from the governing New Democracy party, which had nominated him for the role.

Tasoulas is the first President of the Republic to be elected under the 2019 constitutional reform, which separated the presidential election from the dissolution of Parliament and the calling of early elections. This change removed the need for government-opposition consensus.

Consequently, he became the first President to be elected primarily with the support of the ruling party that nominated him, alongside backing from four independent MPs, two of whom—Antonis Samaras and Marios Salmas—are former members of New Democracy. 

Controversial nomination amid allegations of cover-up

Tasoulas’ nomination has been met with fierce criticism from the opposition and from relatives of the victims of the Tempe train disaster. As former Speaker of Parliament, he was linked to the cover-up of the Tempe disaster, allowing the criminal investigation file to gather dust.

Maria Karystianou, President of the association of Tempe victims’ families and the mother of a train crash victim, strongly condemned his election: “He should never have been Speaker of Parliament, and it is beyond belief that you have now nominated him for country’s highest office.”

Addressing PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the nomination was announced, she commented:

“For you, a politician who should be held accountable is simply a useful tool—someone who will cover things up, enable wrongdoing, and obediently follow orders. Like attracts like. But for the rest of us—thinking, moral citizens—this is nothing more than confirmation of the absolute degradation to which you have dragged us down.”

Karystianou’s letters to the Speaker of the Parliament

It is reminded that the Speaker of the Greek parliament, Nikitas Kaklamanis, had rejected a request from Maria Karystianou to cancel the vote for the President of the Republic. In two letters addressed to Kaklamanis, she demanded the postponement of the vote, citing unresolved questions about the role of the candidate, Konstantinos Tasoulas, in the handling of the Tempe disaster case files.

In her first letter, sent ahead of the vote, Karystianou expressed “great surprise” that the final vote was proceeding without MPs being given answers to the “three burning questions” posed by the association and victims’ families. These, she said, concerned Tasoulas’ actions and omissions regarding the Tempe case, which, she argued, should be fully scrutinised before his election.

“Shouldn’t the MPs know the whole truth about the acts and omissions regarding the crime of Tempe, committed by the candidate for the position of President, Mr. Tasoulas, before they vote?” she asked. “Shouldn’t it be examined whether there is any criminal liability behind these actions?”

She further accused the Speaker of “disrespecting citizens and, above all, the relatives who lost their children in a state crime,” stating that the requests submitted by the association had been ignored. In a second letter, sent shortly before the vote, Karystianou reiterated her demand for the process to be halted, stating that it represented “a seal of the cover-up by 160 MPs.” She requested that both her letters be read and officially recorded in the parliamentary minutes before the vote took place.

Kaklamanis’ office responded through parliamentary aides, confirming that the request to postpone the procedure could not be accommodated, as the Rules of Procedure of the House do not allow for debate or decision-making on the process before the vote.

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