In an all-out attack on the government and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a press conference on Tuesday, main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused the government of behaving "brashly" and with "cynicism" in the face of the disaster.
Noting that at least 92 people had lost their lives in the most horrific way, while the final tally may yet prove to be higher, Mitsotakis described the tragedy as "a black mosaic of family tragedies that does not let us rest and should not let us rest".
The main opposition leader demanded the resignations of the citizen protection and interior ministers, as well as Attica regional governor Rena Dourou, the head of the civil protection service and the chief of the fire brigade, adding: "I fail to understand what the assumption of political responsibility means when there are no resignations, and how some people sleep at night and continue to exercise their duties."
Referring to the prime minister's first appearance in front of television cameras on the night of the disaster, Mitsotakis accused Tsipras of engaging in a PR exercise "at a time when we all knew that people had died".
"Citizens do cast blame for incompetence only, but also unprecedented cynicism and audacity," Mitsotakis said, noting that either Tsipras had not been informed of the deaths by his staff or else "they all knew and were playacting".
"It could have been our own people there. It was an unfair and unequal fight," he added, talking about the fire, saying that he had spent some time with the survivors, as he had a duty to do and pointing to the prime minister's absence from these areas for a full seven days after the disaster.
He had never felt so bad in his life as during his visit last Thursday to the property where dozens of people had died, trapped and overtaken by the flames, Mitsotakis added.
"As leader of the opposition I have an obligation to adopt a responsible stand in the face of this tragedy. Every public figure is obliged to adopt a position. We are dealing with an unprecedented tragedy. Neither I, nor ND, must engage in pointless controversy. The things said by those that lived through the black Monday have much greater weight and much more truth than statements," he said.
Mitsotakis made it clear that those responsible for the tragedy will be held to account and expressed his confidence in Greek justice, saying he would do his utmost as main opposition leader to ensure this happened. He called for an investigation at the highest possible level and noted that he would like to see this finished in two to three months at most.
Mitsotakis also outlined his own policies for civil protection, saying that this should be an agency fully in charge of coordinating the country's response at such times, with greater authority than the prime minister and the government during emergencies.
He pointed out that the summer was not over and called for action to prevent a repetition of the calamity, with more civil protection drills and better coordination and use of modern technologies, as well as preventive action to protect similar high-risk areas where the urban fabric extended into wildland areas, such as Penteli, Parnitha, Tatoi and Hymettus.
"How each person perceives his role next to the citizens is a deeply personal matter. I can accept incompetence. I did not, however, discern in any of those involved a sense that they were crushed. The word sorry was not said once, as if they were in another world of cynicism and arrogance," he said.