ATHENS, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Greek main opposition New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked on Tuesday for the resignations of cabinet ministers and other state officials over the July 23 destructive wildfire which ripped through a coastal resort near Athens resulting in 93 casualties.
"I fail to understand what the assumption of political responsibility means, when there are no resignations," Mitsotakis told a press briefing in Athens, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
The conservative party leader pointed to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' statement during a cabinet meeting on last week that he assumes "political responsibility" for the tragedy, demanding the resignations of the citizen protection and interior ministers, Attica regional governor, the head of the civil protection service and the chief of the Fire Brigade.
Furthermore, Mitsotakis accused the government of cynicism and engaging in a PR exercise from the first night of the tragedy, when the prime minister chaired a meeting at the civil protection service's operational center in front of cameras, refraining from any reference to casualties.
"Citizens do not cast blame for incompetence only, but also unprecedented cynicism," Mitsotakis said, noting that either Tsipras had not been informed of the deaths by his staff by Monday midnight or else "they all knew and were playacting", AMNA reported.
Government officials have insisted that the casualties had not been confirmed when the meeting was underway.
The blaze broke out around 17:00 local time on July 23, and government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos announced 20 casualties in the early hours of July 24, after the meeting.
In the aftermath of Greece's deadliest tragedy in over a decade, the central government, local administration officials and opposition parties have been engaged in a blame game over the causes of the disaster.
A judicial investigation has been launched, seeking answers whether an evacuation order was given and who should have alerted residents, why emergency plans were not executed, whether the fire brigade and civil protection service responded quickly and effectively and whether illegal constructions blocked access to the sea.
Cabinet ministers have accused previous administrations of initially tolerating and gradually legalizing such buildings with no permits across Greece for decades in return of owners' votes in elections.
Opposition parties responded that some of the ministers in the current government share part of the blame, as in the past they also publicly advised people how to legalize their properties and protested and blocked demolitions of illegal constructions.
According to data provided by the Technical Chamber of Greece to media after the tragedy, at least 320 houses in the most affected Mati settlement were unauthorized constructions, while the number nationwide exceeds 970,000.
"Assumption of political responsibility means that one acknowledges the problem, the shortcomings and will take all the necessary measures so that such a tragedy will not happen again...If we say that the assumption of political responsibility should lead to resignations, then the one third of the MPs in the current 300-member strong parliament should step down," State Minister Christoforos Vernardakis told AMNA on Tuesday.
