The deputy secretary of Premier
Matteo Renzi's center-left Democratic Party (PD) said Wednesday
that a government intervention in RAI public broadcaster could
be on the agenda.
"All the conditions are there," Debora Serracchiani told an
ANSA forum on political reform and regional policies.
Such an intervention is "necessary" and could be carried
out "jointly with parliament if conditions allow" said
Serracchiani, a Renzi loyalist who is also the governor of the
northeastern Friuli Venezia Giulia region.
She went on to say "it is not up to the Lower House speaker
to say whether the emergency prerequisites are there".
That comment came after House Speaker Laura Boldrini said
there is no need to issue a decree to reform the public
broadcaster.
"The government needs a schedule but we must also provide
the opposition with guarantees," Boldrini remarked.
Renzi on Sunday pledged to reform the public broadcaster
"beginning in March" by cutting its bureaucratic components and
making it more efficient.
The government is said to be working on revisions to create
a smaller board of directors of perhaps just five members and
change the way the chief executive officer is appointed, as well
as measures to ensure RAI's independence from political
interference.
Among reforms will be changes to the so-called Gasparri
law of 2006, which made significant changes to broadcasting in
Italy under then-premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi.
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