At the Quirinale, the “reassurances” about the need to “reflect on the constitutionally controversial points” of the Nordio bill have arrived. Sergio Mattarella thus signs, more than a month after the approval in the Council of Ministers, the authorization for the transmission of the text to the Chambers. The Senate will now deal with the repeal of the crime of abuse of office, the reduction of that of trafficking in illicit influences, precautionary measures and wiretapping. The president of the Justice Commission Giulia Bongiorno awaits the provision to evaluate the timetable but it is reasonable to assume that the examination of the bill will only come to fruition after the summer break.
With cameras on and notebooks open, the center-right continues to defend the provision, but the ‘improvements’ – especially on abuse of office and trafficking in illicit influences, chapters that have ended up under Colle’s magnifying glass – are already given for granted. “Parliament is sovereign, amendments from the rapporteurs will arrive and a decision will be made”, is the refrain of the majority insiders, who do not neglect a dose of self-irony by renaming the probable modification proposals as ‘the Quirinal package’. Meanwhile, however, the centre-right, with the complicity of the Third Pole, rejects the proposal for an EU directive on corruption, which – among other things – reiterates that abuse of office is a fundamental crime and cannot be cancelled. The stop, through a contrary opinion presented by the rapporteur of the Brothers of Italy, Antonio Giordano, arrives in the EU Policies Commission, with the vote also in favor of the Third Pole. Pd and M5S protest: “The right-wing vote against is incredible – accuses the dem Piero De Luca – sends a devastating signal of laxity and weakening of the tools to fight crime in Italy and in Europe”. “A sensational rejection”, echo the pentastellati. Giordano defends himself: “The proposal for a European directive against corruption is in contrast with the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality”, he cuts short.
Meanwhile, from Palermo, on the 31st anniversary of the Via D’Amelio massacre, Giorgia Meloni tries to definitively close the controversies that arose after the words of Carlo Nordio on the crime of external competition in a mafia association. “Nordio answered a question, but he himself immediately said that it is not foreseen in the government program and in fact there is not – he reiterates – What a response from a magistrate to a question, let’s say that perhaps he should be more political in this , you become a fact when a fact is not “it happens” when you want to make specious polemics”. The Keeper of the Seals, questioned during question time in the Chamber, does the same and tries to clarify once and for all. The owner of via Arenula recalls having been, as a magistrate, in the crosshairs of criminal associations: “You will therefore understand my bewilderment and my indignation when someone defined me as an aider of mafia crime”, he begins by recalling that there is no matter track in the Government program. “My considerations on the need for ad hoc legislation on external competition, consequently aimed at eliminating future uncertainties, building an even more effective tool than the current one”, he insists, hoping in turn for an end to the controversy.
So let’s get on with things to do in Parliament. With an eye also to the call that came from the Quirinale also on emergency decrees and omnibus decrees. Meloni talks about the dossier with the Speaker of the Chamber Lorenzo Fontana who, “in perfect harmony with the premier”, reiterates the need to respect Parliament’s prerogatives.