Greece’s New Democracy party, which is at the helm of the country’s political leadership and has a parliamentary majority, is once again faced with serious political and institutional dilemmas regarding the handling of the high-profile Tempi train tragedy case, after the massive case file was submitted to Parliament by the judicial authorities in Larissa, concerning the criminal liability of the now former Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kostas A. Karamanlis.
The method used by the Prime Minister’s office to “dispose of” the previous case involving former Deputy Minister Christos Triantopoulos—who was referred to the Judicial Council via fast-track procedures of questionable constitutional legitimacy—cannot be repeated in the case of Mr. Karamanlis for three key reasons.
First, an initial reading of the case file suggests (at least according to the opposition) that it was sent to Parliament under the law governing ministerial accountability because the investigators looking into all aspects of the train tragedy encountered the name of the former transport minister himself.
Second, opposition parties are not willing to assist the government by proposing a charge of misdemeanor breach of duty, as happened with Mr. Triantopoulos, who used an expansive interpretation of the Constitution to avoid appearing before the Preliminary Inquiry Committee, which wrapped up swiftly. He had also not appeared before the Investigative Committee, where the ruling party majority shielded him by refusing to summon him.
Third, Kostas Karamanlis, due to his name and family background, carries unique political weight within the ruling party, whose leadership would under no circumstances want to see him stand trial in a Special Court—much less be referred there with the votes of MPs from the party founded by his uncle, and served by other members of his family.
Feverish consultations
For this reason, the Greek Prime Minister’s inner circle has been engaged in intense consultations, in recent days, to find a way to handle the new case file while avoiding the risk of reigniting public outrage, especially if it appears to the public that the government is attempting yet another cover-up—a perception that brought hundreds of thousands of citizens to the streets in the demonstrations of January 26 and February 28.
From the Prime Minister’s side, the case has been entrusted to Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s close aide, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Giorgos Mylonakis, who is in direct contact with the party’s parliamentary spokesperson Thanos Plevris and MP Panagis Kappatos.
These two MPs have been tasked by the ruling party to study the case file and report back to the Prime Minister’s office with their impressions after reviewing the thousands of pages of testimonies and other material contained on the hard drive currently loaded onto the computers in the “Pavlos Bakoyannis” room on the first floor of Parliament.
Karamanlis’s statement
At the same time, Mr. Mylonakis is in contact with Mr. Karamanlis, who so far has made only a terse statement that is open to interpretation regarding his intentions.
The former minister initially noted that “the Investigating Judge in Larissa, without making any assessment or presenting any charge, is asking Parliament to evaluate whether there is criminal liability of former ministers.” He concluded by stating: “I am confident of my innocence. As I have said many times in the past, I am at the disposal of the authorities so that the truth may come to light.”
Experienced parliamentary observers believe this statement places limits on how the ruling party can handle the matter, as Mr. Karamanlis reaffirms both his innocence and his willingness to cooperate with authorities.
Under these circumstances, it is unclear how ND MPs will vote on referring a fellow MP who proclaims his innocence and does not indicate a willingness to appear before a natural judge, as Mr. Triantopoulos had done—who used that argument to avoid appearing before the preliminary inquiry, with the support of the parliamentary majority.
The same “defense line”
According to sources, regardless of Mr. Karamanlis’s personal stance, the government leadership is leaning toward following the same process used with Mr. Triantopoulos.
Hence, the “defense line” being developed is for ND MPs to agree to indict the former transport minister for the misdemeanor of breach of duty. A reliable government source who spoke to To Vima confirmed this direction:
“We obviously won’t support a charge that’s dogmatically based on a felony if it isn’t backed by the facts (and our initial review suggests it’s not),” the source said in response to whether the majority would accept an opposition proposal charging Mr. Karamanlis with a felony offense.
“We’re studying the case file that was submitted. The volume is enormous and will require significant time. We haven’t reached any specific proposal yet,” the source added.
“We’re waiting to see whether the opposition will take any initiatives,” the source concluded. The ideal scenario for the ruling party would be for the opposition proposals to include a misdemeanor offense, allowing ND MPs to vote only for that.
Meanwhile, the opposition is expected to submit at least two indictments containing felony-level charges.
According to sources, PASOK—which has the required 30 MPs (it has 33)—will proceed on its own this time and request an indictment for obstruction of transport, which is a felony under the Penal Code.
A senior official from the main opposition told To Vima: “It is inconceivable that ministry officials are already facing felony charges and are out on bail, while the government wants to refer the responsible minister for a misdemeanor.”
SYRIZA appears to be taking a similar path. Though it has 26 MPs, party leadership in Koumoundourou believes that MPs from the New Left and independents will co-sign a felony-level referral.
