ATHENS — A doctor whose daughter was killed in a train crash has emerged as the unlikely figurehead of a wave of protests against the political establishment in Greece.
Many want Maria Karystianou to run for office, believing an outsider would be the best person to shake up a country that has been rocked by a series of scandals and where trust in politicians has plummeted.
Karystianou, a 52-year-old pediatrician, is the president of the Tempi Victims’ Relatives Association, which is seeking justice for those involved in the February 2023 train crash in Tempi in which 57 people died, mostly students. Her 19-year-old daughter Marthi was one of those who died in the deadliest rail crash in Greek history, a disaster that raised deep concerns about the functioning of the state and resulted in mass street protests.
“Greece has gone off the rails and remains there,” Karystianou said, juxtaposing the train crash and Greek politics.
“I cannot bear to live in such a society, and I cannot imagine how we will continue to live with such a corrupt political system. This is an urgent need of society that cannot be met by the existing political system.”
While speculation that Karystianou might be launching a political career has been rampant in local media, she has refused to confirm or deny the rumors, including when she spoke with POLITICO.
Any new political movement would join a fragmented landscape, according to opinion polls, one that is overshadowed by profound distrust in the government and low support for the ruling party, the center-right New Democracy of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. With opposition parties also divided and unable to take advantage, some polls suggest a new political movement led by Karystianou could draw the support of 25 percent of voters.
“I want to see something new, as does a large part of society. I also belong to this 25 percent,” she said.
The deadly Tempi train crash “remains in the news mainly because it has managed to form a voice of opposition and express protest against the government and the political system more broadly. The protest is not necessarily anti-establishment but rather a voice of despair over the government’s chronic incompetence,” said Lamprini Rori, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Athens.
The tragedy that haunts the government
The train crash left a deep scar on Greece. Two trains traveling at high speed in opposite directions on the same line — one carrying at least 150 people and one filled with cargo — collided head-on, killing 57 people and injuring 85.
The disaster shone a spotlight on Greece’s aging 2,550-kilometer rail network, which had long faced criticism for alleged mismanagement, unfit equipment and poor maintenance.
“It is an open wound, as it is a crime committed by the state,” said Costas Eleftheriou, an assistant professor at Democritus University of Thrace and political analysis coordinator at the ENA Institute for Alternative Policies, an Athens think tank. “A railway that never operated according to the required specifications, a ministry leadership that assured it was safe, and then the conditions for the administration of justice are not being met.”
“Since those in government and opposition are unable to address the problem, we are currently in a deadlock.”
Polls show that the vast majority of Greeks believe the government is trying to cover up what really happened and who was to blame. There have been claims that highly flammable chemicals were being transported. In March 2024 the Mitsotakis government survived a vote of no confidence, but its handling of the fallout has only intensified the scrutiny, with Athens dismissing a call from the European public prosecutor to take action over the potential criminal liability of two former transport ministers. (The government made use of a provision in the Greek constitution that gives ministers immunity.)
That’s where Karystianou comes in. Hailing from a middle-class background, she has gained national fame and become a symbol of the call for justice, winning a reputation for speaking clearly but with emotion. Her every word is now scrutinized by supporters and opponents alike.
“I feel ashamed that a European prosecutor would come and say that our constitution protects ministers from accountability. This constitutional provision is abused by politicians even in cases of felonies, such as Tempi,” Karystianou said.
The victims’ association has organized protests in Greece and beyond, as well as concerts and other events to keep the case in the public eye. Karystianou and other relatives of those who died in the crash have received hundreds of messages from Greeks encouraging the creation of a new political movement. Her phone also buzzes constantly with calls from MPs and political officials pledging to sign up if she does start a party.
“A huge lack of trust in the ruling party and the opposition parties has created a demand in society for unconventional politics,” said Eleftheriou, the assistant professor. “When voters think of the victims’ families, they say, ‘These are people like us, and they are claiming their rights.’ They can understand their goal, identify with it, and rally behind it.”
On hunger strike
The latest street protests were part of a campaign by the families of victims to have their loved ones exhumed, both for identification and so that toxicological and other tests can be performed to check for the presence of flammable material.
Panos Ruci, whose son Denis was killed in the crash, went on a 23-day hunger strike and camped outside the Greek parliament to put pressure on the government to agree to the exhumation request. Judicial authorities, who had said no to the request, eventually agreed to dig up the bodies.
A group called Till the End has set up a makeshift memorial for the Tempi victims and has written the names of the 57 victims in red paint in front of the parliament. Every night for the past eight months at 11:18 p.m. — the time of the crash — the protesters read out the names of the dead. The government has said it will pass an amendment this month that will stop the mourners and protesters from gathering there, a decision that has met strong opposition.
“The systematic and detailed efforts of the victims’ relatives to find evidence of administrative incompetence in the government’s response to the accident reinforced popular opposition to the ruling party,” said Iannis Konstantinidis, associate professor with the Department of International and European Studies at the University of Macedonia. “The victims’ relatives — already having the moral high ground — also gained the political upper hand against a government that was perceived as inadequate at best.”
However, he added, moral support doesn’t automatically translate into electoral support: “Their political opponents can attack them with arguments that do not concern morality but rather their inexperience or governability. Their moral and symbolic capital will then be insufficient.”
Such attacks from rivals are something Karistianou will have to get used to if she decides to become a politician.
“None of us can respond to what Karistianou is saying,” Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis told local radio station Parapolitika. “I respect her as a mother who lost her child. But if she becomes our political opponent tomorrow, she won’t have the same immunity and treatment. She’ll be our political opponent.”
Another problem, according to Rori at the University of Athens, is that new parties find it extremely difficult to survive, even if they manage to stick around for a couple of elections.
“The intense debate surrounding the possibility of a new party led by Karistianou highlights the need for opposition representation and a potential political opportunity for a newcomer to the political scene. However, it is more likely that such a party would be stillborn — yet another flash party.”
More new parties
Despite New Democracy’s decline in the polls, which suggests it would be unable to form a majority government if elections were held today, no serious challenger to Mitsotakis has emerged.
Meanwhile, Greece’s former left-wing prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, stepped down as an MP earlier this month, as speculation mounts that he is planning to form a new party. Pollsters have been trying to predict the public’s reaction to a potential new political party led by Tsipras and reckon that his potential base could be up to 20 percent of the electorate.
While he has not officially confirmed rumors about a new party, Tsipras implied as much in his public resignation statement, telling former colleagues in the left-wing Syriza party: “We will not be rivals. Perhaps soon, we will travel together again to more beautiful seas.” Tsipras said he plans to publish a book by the end of the year on his time as prime minister.
Another party from the right of the political spectrum is likely to emerge from former Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras. He was expelled from the party last year after strongly criticizing government policies, including on the relationship with neighboring Turkey, as well as what he considers “woke” approaches such as legislation recognizing same-sex marriage. There have been media reports that Karystianou could join forces with Samaras on a new political movement, as one of her associates used to be an adviser to the ex-PM.
According to pollsters, some 9 percent of voters could potentially support a new party led by Samaras, which is expected to adopt an agenda that owes more than a little to U.S. President Donald Trump.
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