Three weeks after a train disaster that raised crowds against his government, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on Tuesday March 21 that general elections would be held in May, without specifying the exact date. “I can tell you with certainty that the elections will take place in May,” the leader of the conservative New Democracy party said in an interview with private television channel Alpha, as the train collision that killed 57 people on May 28 February sparked a wave of anger against his government.
The term of the Conservative government, in power for almost four years, expires in early July, according to the Constitution. According to numerous media reports, the government had originally planned to call an election in April but the head-on collision of two trains, the country’s worst rail accident, has shocked Greece and forced the government to revise its plans.
The accident was attributed primarily to the duty station master that evening. He was charged and remanded in custody. But experts and the media have pointed the finger at the responsibilities of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which has been unable for four years to deal with the chronic failures of the railways. Struck for his management deemed calamitous of this collision, the Prime Minister promised “absolute transparency” in the judicial investigation.
Greece had already entered the pre-election period when a wiretapping scandal broke last summer, which dealt a serious blow to the government. The leftist opposition has since been calling for the resignation of the government and early elections.
