Greece will hold elections next May, as confirmed by the Greek Prime Minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during his first interview since the train accident in which 57 people died on February 28, and which has caused a wave of protests. against the government.
“I can definitely tell you that the elections will be held in May,” Mitsotakis said in the interview with Alpha TV.
Although the legislature ends in June, it has long been expected that the elections will be held in May, probably on the 21st.
“My goal is to win the elections again and I think we will achieve it,” said the head of the New Democracy party, which has suffered a drop in voting intentions since the accident.
The latest polls give New Democracy three points over the leftist Syriza, half that before the incident.
The tragedy has caused a wave of public outrage with strikes and massive protests almost daily.
The protesters blame the Executive for the lack of security and control systems in the railway network.
The conservative government has accused Syriza of having delayed improvements to the rail network when it was in power (2015-2019).
A parliamentary commission is investigating why the so-called “717 contract”, signed in 2014 by the state railway company (OSE) to install a series of automated security measures on the Athens-Thessaloniki section, where it occurred, has not yet been fully executed. the accident.
The Railway Regulatory Authority (RAS) published a report last Friday stating that 73 station managers who were temporarily hired under the current government received “deficient preparation” by OSE before assuming their positions.
Among them was the station manager who has admitted to the prosecution that he put the passenger train on the same track as a freight train, which caused its head-on collision minutes later that left 57 victims.
Mitsotakis initially maintained the thesis that the accident was due to human error and, for now, four railway employees have been charged, including the station manager who put a passenger train and a freight train on the same track. that they ended up colliding.
Faced with pressure on the street, Mitsotakis ended up apologizing and acknowledging the lack of safety systems in a large part of the railway network, such as the section where the accident occurred.
Still, the prime minister said today that he has never thought of resigning.
