Growing indications that the now very prominent president of an association representing the relatives of the Tempi rail disaster, Maria Karystianou, is ready to announce the formation of a new political party continued to generate reactions on Wednesday.

Besides political parties and the media, the looming development again attracted criticism by the same association’s vice-president, Pavlos Aslanidis, who underlined that no one of the relatives comprising the association will back Karystianou’s political ambitions.

“We expected Ms. Karystianou to resign from the presidency of the association from the day she announced the creation of a political party. It’s a matter of principles,” Aslanidis said, speaking on a news radio program.

“Two weeks ago, when she said she was going to form a party, we issued a statement, as the board of directors, saying that we were not briefed about all these moves that she was making and that we certainly did not create the association to form a party and a political entity,” he added.

Moreover, he said that Karystianou cannot have any official capacity at a coming Tempi memorial service on the three-anniversary of the collision, Feb. 28, but only as a parent of a victim lost in the tragedy.

Karystianou has figured prominently in speculation over the creation of a new “anti-systemic” political party.