Maria Karystianou, president of the Greek political movement Elpida gia tin Dimokratia (Hope for Democracy), said on September 14, 2026 that there would be no ungovernability in Greece even if her movement enters Parliament, but she ruled out any coalition government or cooperation with what she called "systemic" parties.
Karystianou made the comments at a press conference held at the event hall of the Union of Editors of Daily Newspapers of the Peloponnese, Epirus and the Islands, in the western Greek city of Patras. The appearance was part of a tour of the Achaea region.
Movement's priorities
She said the movement's goal was to change Greece by helping a primary sector she described as "breathing its last," tackling the high cost of living, cartels and what she called the impunity of the banks seriously and effectively, helping every professional get back on their feet, and addressing a birth rate she said kept falling. The aim, she said, was a new, democratic, "reborn" state.
Karystianou added that the movement had "not come to leave," saying it placed enormous weight on catharsis, accountability and punishment.
No coalition with 'systemic' parties
Asked whether Hope for Democracy might cooperate with an existing party if it wins seats in Parliament, given the possibility that no governing majority emerges, Karystianou said there would be no ungovernability, "because there can't be." She said the country had to be governed, and governed properly, but that a coalition government or cooperation with systemic parties, a term commonly used in Greek political debate for the country's mainstream, established parties, was not on the table under any circumstances.
Karystianou founded Hope for Democracy after becoming a prominent public figure demanding accountability over the Tempi train disaster of February 2023, in which a passenger train and a freight train collided near the Tempi valley in the Larissa region, killing 57 people. Her movement is contesting Greece's next general election, expected in 2027.
Criticism of the Tempi trial
Asked about the trial currently underway over the Tempi disaster, Karystianou said the case had been "very conveniently" broken up into a large number of separate, smaller trials. She said one of the resulting proceedings amounted to what she called a "parody trial," because it did not include all the charges or all the defendants, in particular over the fireball that, she said, everyone knew had burned 27 people alive.
She said the trial was being run as a parody in order to close out the case, hand down sentences of a misdemeanor character, and allow the matter to be archived.
