 "Gennaro Sangiuliano apologised to his wife during a prime-time television interview on Wednesday. Reuters")
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government was hit with yet another scandal after Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano resigned amid controversy over a consultancy role given to his former lover. The 62-year-old former journalist had to face the media frenzy after Maria Rosaria Boccia, a self-proclaimed fashion entrepreneur, said last month was nominated “adviser to the minister for major events”.
Initially, the culture minister denied such an appointment, but Sangiuliano later explained he had agreed to take her on as an unpaid consultant before changing his mind due to a conflict of interest. “I deem it necessary for the institutions and for myself to hand in my resignation,” Sangiuliano said in Friday’s letter to the prime minister.
While tendering his resignation, the Italian minister defended his record and denied breaching of ministerial rules.
The affair that stirred all the drama
In a tearful prime-time TV interview on Wednesday, Sangiuliano admitted that he had an affair with Boccia. During the interview, he apologised to his wife and the Italian Prime Minister. The Italian minister also mentioned that Meloni had rejected his first offer to resign.
Soon after the interview, the affair dominated the front pages of the major Italian news outlets. Interestingly, the case evoked comparisons with past sex-and-politics scandals, including the “bunga bunga” parties hosted by the former premier Silvio Berlusconi.
In past weeks, Boccia has filled her Instagram with posts of herself accompanying Sangiuliano to various public events and showing that she had access to ministry offices and documents. Amid the chaos, Angelo Bonelli, the leader of the opposition Green Europe party, filed a complaint to police this week. She asked for an investigation over possible misuse of public funds and disclosure of confidential information. Italy’s audit court is now looking into the case.
Meloni speaks on the matter
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took to X, formerly known as Twitter to pay tribute to the Sangiuliano. “I sincerely thank Gennaro Sangiuliano, a capable person and an honest man, for the extraordinary work done so far, which has allowed the Italian Government to achieve important results in the relaunch and valorization of the great Italian cultural heritage, even outside the national borders,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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More Shorts“I have taken note of Sangiuliano’s irrevocable resignation and have proposed to the President of the Republic to nominate Alessandro Giuli, currently President of the MAXXI Foundation, as the new Minister of Culture.”
“The action of relaunching national culture will continue, consolidating that discontinuity with the past that Italians have asked of us and that we have initiated since our establishment to date,” she furthered. This marked the first change in her rightwing coalition government which currently chairs the G7 forum. While Sangiuliano was touted as a close ally to Meloni, he was not a member of her party.
With inputs from agencies.