Will the train crash be Mitsotakis' undoing after all?
According to research conducted by To Vima, audio recordings were deliberately manipulated after the Tempi train crash and then disseminated by pro-government media to create the impression that the collision was due solely to human error. The opposition has reacted by tabling a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Mitsotakis, which will be put to the vote on Thursday. Commentators remain sceptical.
Reprieve guaranteed
What will happen next is entirely predictable, groans Efimerida ton Syntakton:
“There will be a debate in parliament, MPs and ministers will come down hard on each other, Mr Mitsotakis will make one of his typical speeches (raising the volume every 7-8 minutes), he will be able to say unprovable things and tell lies without contradiction and in the end he will receive a vote of confidence from the Nea Dimokratia parliamentary group. He will return to society not with an exoneration, but with a reprieve. The Tempi case still has a long way to go.”
Pointless - especially now
News247 sees the motion as an extremely unwise move:
“The real motion of no confidence in the government and Nea Dimokratia will not come from parliament. It will come from the voters in the European elections on 9 June. Then, if the government is hurt and weak, a motion of no confidence would make sense and could further weaken its position. But it will not be able to be tabled then because six months will not have passed since the previous one, i.e. the one that has now been tabled. Governments do not fall as a result of motions of no confidence in parliament tabled by the opposition. In many cases they emerge stronger because they receive a vote of confidence. Such moves are pointless, and the opposition should give them a wide berth.”