The government on Tuesday said it
opposes a motion of no-confidence against New Center Right (NCD)
agriculture undersecretary Giuseppe Castiglione, who has been
named in the so-called Rome Mafia probe into a crime ring that
allegedly muscled in on lucrative city contracts.
The Democratic Party (PD) caucus has called a meeting to
decide on its line on this matter, parliamentary sources said.
The NCD is a junior member of the ruling coalition led by
center-left Premier Matteo Renzi's PD.
Two opposition parties - the anti-immigrant, anti-euro
Northern League and the small leftwing Left Ecology Freedom
(SEL) - on Monday filed two motions of no-confidence against
Castiglione.
The undersecretary was among six people under
investigation by Catania prosecutors for alleged bid-rigging
related to the Cara di Mineo migrant reception centre in Sicily.
The probe is an offshoot of the so-called Rome Mafia
investigation, the last chapter of which saw 44 people
arrested earlier this month for alleged involvement in the
plundering of public money destined for migrant reception
centres.
Also on Tuesday, Justice Minister Andrea Orlando told an
investors' meeting in New York that the government intervened
"in a clear, decisive way" to put an end to rampant corruption
in Rome and elsewhere since news of the Rome organized crime
ring involving businessmen, gangsters and politicians first
broke in December 2014.
"We set up an authority tasked with fighting such
phenomena, along with stricter norms," he said.
"This is a signal that has been received and that investors
will receive once they see the results in coming months".
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