Tempi: Tragedy pushes back elections

Despite the fact that the Prime Minister never named April 9 as the date for the parliamentary elections, all the facts pointed to this day.

The new democracy has been actively preparing for the elections in recent months, generously distributing benefits, announcing an increase in wages and pensions from April 1, and so on. It is known that even the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers devoted to the elections, which was to be held on March 10 and the subsequent dissolution of Parliament two days later, was an “open secret.” Everyone was ready for that date: April 9 was the primary, and May 14 or 21 were the likely dates for the rerun.

The tragic accident, dozens of dead and wounded, the national tragedy that the country has been experiencing since yesterday, turns everything upside down. And not only elections. It seems that the plans for the April 9 elections are changing, with the government looking for a more neutral time and, of course, “not under the pressure of this tragedy, which will occupy the country and its citizens for a long time to come”.

Strong doubts are expressed in political offices that the basic scenario of the first vote on April 9 will be confirmed. The change in the schedule of political events in any case reinforces speculation that Mitsotakis may now prefer to postpone the start date of the elections by at least two weeks, if not to May …

According to reports, prime minister’s advisers are making proposals for a possible postponement of the election, since April 9, the closing date for polling stations, will coincide with the 40th day of the accident. In Christian traditions, this is an important day of commemoration of the souls of the dead, and elections on this day will be a red rag for society. The same sources, if the elections are postponed, call the initial date – May 21. This does not mean that they cannot be scheduled for April 23, the week after Easter, so that, if necessary, a repeat election could be held closer to the beginning of June.

At the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, “only the treatment of the wounded and support for the families of the victims are discussed,” government circles insist, refuting scenarios for discussing the date of the elections.

Sources, however, say the prime minister will not bring up the subject of the election until this weekend, when a cabinet meeting is expected to be rescheduled. In any case, it is understandable that the government is also in a state of shock and will have to cope with a serious crisis with multiple consequences. It will not be possible to hold elections in early April in a state of invisible grief and, to a large extent, anger at the mistakes and omissions that were made and led to the tragedy in Tempi, as the opposition will definitely take advantage of this.

What Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the government will definitely want to do is deal with this crisis, expedite the investigation into the tragedy, and make as much effort as possible over the next period, or, at least appoint scapegoats.

Prime Minister’s Links statement– the speech he made on the occasion of the tragedy in Tempi is not at all accidental. Mitsotakis, in part, said: “State Minister Giorgi Gerapetritis appointed temporary Minister of Transport before the national elections, and I have already asked him to move quickly to set up an independent and non-partisan committee of experts that will fully investigate the causes of the accident. He will also look into longstanding delays in rail projects. In the meantime, justice will do its job. Responsibility will be shared. The state will support the families of the victims. We will mourn our children, our brothers and sisters, our friends. We will be united in this tragedy. And then we bow our heads and grit our teeth. We will work to ensure that this “never again” that I heard in Larisa is not an empty phrase. I promise you this.”

Behind these words is an attempt to buy time to support families and work, as he says, to ensure that such incidents do not happen again. In fact, the government will have to make great efforts to reduce the negative consequences of what happened. This means that the country is waiting for new subsidies, benefits and a lot of “smart” pre-election proposals that “will” be implemented after the victory of the New Democracy.

Source link