Amid high drama for the ruling
centre-left Democratic Party (PD), outgoing Rome Mayor Ignazio
Marino on Thursday withdrew his recent resignation over an
expenses scandal and said he wanted to press on.
But the self-awarded reprieve, ahead of Monday's deadline
for making the resignation effective or not, looked set to be
very short as the PD turned to allies and the opposition to
swell the ranks of its councillors and give the majority needed
to scotch the defiant first citizen's bid to cling to his post.
Along with the 19 PD councillors, two more from within the
ruling coalition plus four from the opposition said they would
quit with them by Friday night.
That would make a majority of 25 on the 48-strong city
council, effectively ending Marino's chances of sticking it out.
The mayor, however, made it plain he was not going to go
silently.
He said he wanted a council debate "in the sacred place of
democracy...with my majority to illustrate what has been done:
the positive things, the mistakes and the vision for the
future".
Marino insisted that he wanted "an open, frank and
transparent discussion in the Julius Caesar Room," where the
city council convenes.
The mayor went into what could well be his last executive
council meeting Thursday night with three councillors missing.
He appeared likely try to dig in until a cherished
project, completing the transformation of the Roman Forum into a
pedestrian zone, was approved by the council - although his
wishes could be thwarted.
The PD councillors agreed their mass resignations earlier
in the day in a meeting with Rome PD commissioner Matteo Orfini,
who has the full confidence of PD leader and Premier Matteo
Renzi in handling the affair.
Despite losing thr support of Renzi and the PD, Marino had
vowed "not to disappoint" supporters, quoting Che Guevara's
saying "We are realists, we want the impossible" and also
likening himself to Chilean leftist leader Salvador Allende.
The PD said the expenses row was just the last in a long
series of furores that mean the mayor could not regain its
trust.
The PD pulled the plug after months of sometimes grudging
support through woes including the 'Capital Mafia' case, an
illegally parked car, the glitzy funeral of a mafia boss and
Pope Francis's public disowning of Marino after he claimed to
have been invited to an event in Philadelphia.
The city of Rome is standing as civil plaintiff in
the Capital Mafia trial, starting November 5, involving
allegations that an organised crime group muscled in on council
contracts worth millions including work with migrants and Roma.
Most of the Capital Mafia cases began under Marino's
rightwing predecessor Gianni Alemanno.
Marino has claimed credit for unearthing much of the
graft.
But aside from the rows that have undermined his position,
Marino's record on trying to solve Rome's many woes, from
potholes to traffic to graffiti and general urban neglect that
has won international attention, has been spotty at best - and
he has happened to be on holiday or otherwise absent while many
of the controversies were peaking.
However, his supporters saw him as a clean politician who
has tried to tackle problems linked to powerful vested
interests, and even his opponents have recognised the basic
honesty of the former liver transplant surgeon.
But the end of Marino's bid to stay afloat was
overshadowed by comments from Italian anti-corruption czar
Raffaele Cantone, who said Wednesday that Milan was Italy's
capital of morality and that Rome does not have graft
antibodies.
Marino countered by saying "Rome has antibodies and they
are working".
He also denied reports he was holding out in order
to win a demonstration of gratitude or another important
position from the PD.
"Here the issue is not Ignazio Marino but Rome," he said.
"Ignazio Marino does not have anything to ask or negotiate
for with anyone".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
