The party that has "ridden roughshod over constitutional provisions" should not point fingers and pose a defender of the institutions, nor "lecture PASOK on institutional integrity", main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change said in an announcement on Tuesday, replying to criticism from government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis.
Marinakis criticised the main opposition for abstaining in a vote to waive the parliamentary immunity of 14 ND MPs who had voted to "fast-track" the parliamentary investigation into the actions of former deputy minister Christos Triantopoulos in relation to the Tempi train collision.
"Both reputable constitutional scholars and we ourselves have repeatedly noted that the machination initiated by New Democracy in the Triantopoulos case is a direct violation of the Constitution. We will not further such practices," the announcement said.
The party noted that a vote against waiving immunity would "be a vindication of the unconstitutional machination", while abstaining indicates does not approve of "the criminalisation of political life on terms of high treason."
Replying to Marinakis, PASOK said that "the dark days for parliamentarianism are the days when the MPs of the ruling majority, under the guidance of [Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis] systematically trample on the Constitution in order to protect ministers from their responsibilities for the tragedy in Tempi and for tampering with the site of the accident."
"A party that rejects case files from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, invents exculpatory charges for its former ministers, rushes to close criminal investigations into critical cases via fast-track procedures, and has disgraced the country internationally with scandals of opacity, corruption, and impunity, has no right to lecture PASOK on institutional integrity," the announcement said.