Under-fire Transport and
Infrastructure Minister Maurizio Lupi is not thinking of
resigning for the moment, ANSA sources said Tuesday.
There have been calls for the minister to quit from
several quarters after his son was linked to a corruption probe.
Lupi spoke to Premier Matteo Renzi several times on the
telephone Tuesday, the sources said.
The minister reportedly confirmed that he would take part
at event at the Rho trade-fair centre near Milan as planned on
Wednesday.
Earlier on Tuesday Lupi, of the junior government partner
the New Centre Right (NCD), was said to be reconsidering his
position after facing a joint no-confidence motion from the
small opposition Left Ecology and Freedom (SEL) party as well as
from former comedian Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement (M5S).
SEL proposed a no-confidence motion in connection with a
massive graft probe uncovered Monday related to the
infrastructure ministry and its previous incarnation as the
public works ministry.
"It would be an act of strength," if the senior government
partner the Democratic Party (PD) removed Lupi, said SEL House
Leader Arturo Scotto.
Judges investigating corruption in public contracts have
suggested a relationship between Lupi and some accused in the
probe.
Lupi was said Monday to have received an expensive new
suit from one of those probed while his son Luca was given a
Rolex watch as a graduation present from the so-called 'boss' of
public-works graft, former manager and now consultant Ercole
Incalza.
The other main person under investigation, businessman
Stefano Perotti, was said to have procured a job for Luca Lupi
as a site manager, even though he already had 17 managers on the
site.
Grillo, in presenting the joint motion, said Lupi must
resign and "pay back all the money he has made at the ministry
in the past two years".
"Lupi is either a failure as a minister, or brings bad
luck. Or both," said Grillo.
He added that Ercole 'Ercolino' Incalza had had allegedly
shady public-contract connections which Lupi should have known
about.
"Lupi must give explanations and resign," said Grillo.
On Tuesday evening the ruling PD weighed in with party
chair Matteo Orfini saying Lupi "must clarify some aspects" of a
graft probe to which his son Luca has been linked.
"There are things that arouse anxiety and concern...there
is an absolute need to clarify certain aspects, then evaluations
will be made".
Pressure from outside politics also began to pile up on
Lupi as the influential Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana,
Italy's most-read publication, said "Italy is a continuous
Bribesville", referring to the kickbacks scandals that swept
away the post-WWII political order in the early 1990s.
As for Lupi, it noted that he had not been accused of any
crime but asked whether his allegedly shady connections were
"ethically acceptable".
And Italian Bishops' Conference chief Angelo Bagnasco
chimed in to say "corruption is becoming a regime".
"I will not resign even if, when I see my son pulled
unjustly into this, I wonder if it is (worthwhile)," Lupi said
earlier in the day.
Luca Lupi has not been accused of any crime.
"I try above all to overcome the bitterness of a father in
seeing his son on the front page," when he is not involved, said
Lupi.
But late Tuesday Cabinet Secretary Graziano Delrio said
Lupi was "thinking" about his position.
"Lupi is not under investigation...it's clear there are
political evaluations that will be made but we need to see more
papers", Delrio said.
"Then there's a decision that is up to the individual and
I believe the minister is thinking about it," he said.
Incalza, a public-works official for seven governments,
was among four arrested including Perotti and Francesco Cavallo,
as well as Incalza's aide Sandro Pacella, in a probe that saw
more than 50 people including politicians placed under
investigation for suspected kickbacks that inflated costs by as
much as 40%.
Lupi's son was allegedly hired by an engineer, Giorgio
Mor, at Perotti's behest in what a judge said was a favour that
might have been reciprocated in some way.
The indirect hiring of Luca Lupi by Perotti may have been
part of "an illicit quid pro quo" by the minister, a judge
alleged.
Lupi had already strongly denied suggestions on Monday
that he asked favours for his son, saying the young man was so
bright he didn't need paternal string-pulling to get a job.
The Northern League on Tuesday demanded that NCD leader
and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano also resign.
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