(see related)Embattled
Campania Governor Vincenzo De Luca, who is being probed for
corruption, on Wednesday published an October 29 letter in which
he requested a hearing with Rome prosecutors.
The letter signed by his defense lawyer said De Luca wanted
to "be interrogated in order to clarify his position and the
fact that he had nothing to do with the alleged wrongdoing".
De Luca won May's regional election in Campania even
though his name was included on a list of candidates deemed to
be 'unpresentable' by a parliamentary anti-mafia committee
because of the conviction related to an incinerator project.
His candidacy was controversial but he won centre-left
primaries to lead the PD ticket.
Raffaele Cantone, the head of Italy's anti-corruption
authority, said Thursday that the 2012 anti-graft law under
which De Luca had been suspended was in need of being revamped.
The Severino law, named after former justice minister
Paola Severino, bans from office politicians convicted of
certain crimes.
Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi was ejected from parliament
under the law in 2013 after a definitive tax-fraud conviction.
But the De Luca case comes after a successful challenge
against a ban under it by Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris.
But in that case, the Severino law was later found to
conform to the Italian constitution, spelling expected trouble
for De Luca too.
"Less than three years after the law came into force, it
is encountering problems and doubts about its application,"
Cantone said in a report to parliament.
He said the law was central to preventing corruption,
while stressing that "legislative interventions" were needed to
make it truly effective.
Cantone also said that the counter-graft plans adopted in
the public sector were largely inadequate.
He said 90% of local authorities had adopted
anti-corruption plans.
But he said that the quality of these documents was
frequently "insufficient" in terms of "method, sustainability
and effectiveness".
He added that this had led to "various critical points".
Italy's political parties have been hit by a long series
of corruption scandals that have caused widespread public
disaffection.
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