The proceedings of the ad hoc Parliamentary committee conducting a preliminary investigation into the actions of former transport minister Kostas Achilleas Karamanlis with respect to the rail disaster at Tempi concluded on Thursday.
The submission of the final report was officially announced to the plenary by the presiding Parliament vice-president Odysseas Konstantinopoulos. A plenary session of Parliament will debate and make the final decision by secret ballot on July 22.
Earlier the committee approved the report by ruling New Democracy, which recommended that the former minister be referred to justice on the misdemeanour charge of breach of duty, with the support of the 14 MPs of the ND Parliamentary group, who are a majority on the committee.
Main opposition PASOK-Movement for Change, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Elliniki Lysi and Nea Aristera expressed their objections to the ruling majority's recommendations, saying they sought to provide an amnesty to the former minister and cover up his criminal responsibilities, before walking out of the meeting.
The opposition parties Niki and Plefsi Eleftherias remained until the end of the session and voted against the ND proposal.
The final report recommends that Karamanlis face criminal prosecution "because during the period from September 2021 to February 28, 2023, in violation of Article 40, paragraph 3 of Law 4974/2022, he intentionally and with the purpose of financially harming the company named 'Hellenic Railways Organisation S.A. (OSE S.A.)' failed to:
a) establish an adequate financing framework for the railway sector,
b) ensure the allocation to OSE of the public resources necessary for the maintenance, repair, expansion, and renovation of the railway network... including the staffing of OSE S.A. with the personnel necessary for its smooth operation."
The objections of the opposition parties centred on the "fast-tracking" of the committee's proceedings, which PASOK-KINAL denounced in a four-page letter as unconstitutional and illegal, "in order to provide the final stage of protection to Mr. Karamanlis and complete the cover-up," announcing its decision to depart without voting as the prerequisites required by Parliament rules to support a reasoned opinion on the specific charges did not exist.
SYRIZA-PA members of the committee also accused the majority of manoeuvres to prevent a preliminary investigation and meaningful examination of the specific alleged offences and others that may have been revealed and also announced its decision to not add legitimacy to the proceedings by taking part in the voting.
Similar arguments were put forward by the MPs for KKE, Elliniki Lysi and Nea Aristera.