Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cupboard on Friday, appointing new finance and transport ministers and handing different key portfolios to youthful officers.
The reshuffle is available in response to latest mass protests over the nations’s worst rail tragedy.
Mitsotakis is attempting to win again the general public’s belief after the practice crash in 2023 that killed 57 individuals.
The second anniversary, final month, of the Tempi railway catastrophe led to giant protests over suspicions that the federal government is attempting to cowl up the case.
Widespread ministers get the nod within the reshuffle
Mitsotakis’ New Democracy occasion faces declining approval scores amid the political fallout from the catastrophe.
A ballot for Star TV discovered that greater than 50% of Greeks need early elections, and greater than 65% of ruling occasion voters consider authorities officers needs to be placed on trial for the accident.
The prime minister appointed Kyriakos Pierrakakis, the favored former minister of digital governance, as the brand new finance minister. He replaces Kostis Hatzidakis, who’s now deputy prime minister overseeing financial progress insurance policies.
Christos Dimas is the brand new transport minister, tasked with overhauling Greece’s railways.
Mitsotakis additionally picked Stavros Papastavrou and Nikos Tsafos for the surroundings and vitality portfolios, as Greece hopes to make its economic system greener whereas additionally on the lookout for fuel reserves on its territory.
What was the Tempi railway catastrophe?
The rail catastrophe occurred on February 28, 2023, when a passenger practice from Athens to Thessaloniki collided with a freight practice.
Fifty-seven individuals died within the crash, together with many college students, and plenty of extra have been injured.
The 2 trains had traveled towards one another for miles with out triggering any alarms. The accident was blamed on defective tools and human error.
A lately issued impartial report denounced the dilapidated situation of the rail community. It additionally highlighted severe shortcomings within the investigation of the accident.
Earlier this month, parliament voted to analyze whether or not a senior official dispatched to the scene by Mitsotakis approved the bulldozing of the crash web site, resulting in the lack of very important proof.
Greater than 40 individuals have been prosecuted, together with an area station grasp chargeable for routing the trains, who has been charged with “murder resulting from negligence.”
