A no-confidence vote against the Mitsotakis government failed to pass on Friday evening, as widely expected, as a majority of deputies (157) voted against the motion. A total of 293 MPs out of the 300 deputies in Greece’s Parliament participated in the roll-call vote.
Deputies of the ruling center-right New Democracy (ND) party voted against the motion.
One-hundred and thirty-six deputies, all from opposition parties, voted for the no-confidence measure.
The late-night vote came after three days of debate, with the motion – tabled by four opposition party leaders – triggered by the two-year anniversary (Feb. 28, 2023) of the deadly Tempi rail collision and massive protests held last Friday throughout Greece and abroad.
All of the party leaders spoke from Parliament’s podium, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis concluding the debate.
A brief interruption came moments after Mitsotakis began his final address when five individuals with visitor accreditation provided by the Nea Aristera (New Left) party stood up in the galley and threw leaflets into the air while shouting slogans.
Earlier, one ND deputy, Dimitris Kyriazidis, was summarily expelled from the ruling party after he shouted at Zoe Konstantopoulou, the founder and president of the small Plefsi Eleftherias (Course of Freedom), to “go have a baby”, as she was addressing the plenum and referring to a group of visiting pupils observing the debate.
