Walter Veltroni, the former head
of the Democratic Party (PD), on Wednesday blasted a motion by
the centre-left group against Governor Ignazio Visco as
"incomprehensible and unjustifiable".
On Tuesday a PD motion debated in the Lower House came out
against Visco over his handling of Italy's recent banking
crisis, saying a "new phase was needed".
It said the crisis "could have been mitigated with more
incisive and rapid prevention and management activity" in a move
that many saw as an attack on the independence of the central
bank.
"The Bank of Italy has always been an asset of independence
and autonomy for the whole country," Veltroni, who is also a
former mayor of Rome, said when asked about the motion by ANSA.
"That's why the PD parliamentary motion seems
incomprehensible and unjustifiable to me".
President Sergio Mattarella on Monday night called for
"everyone" to safeguard the bank's autonomy and independence.
Visco is coming to the end of his first term at the helm of
the Bank of Italy and had been expected to get the nod for a
second.
PD Lower House whip Ettore Rosato said Wednesday that the
motion was not a demand for Governor Ignazio Visco's head.
"We don't want anyone's head," Rosato said.
"We are the only ones who defended the right of the premier
to identify the next governor.
"But we could not fail to make a judgement and we have said
on many occasions, not just yesterday, that the control system
has not always worked in the best way and many savers have
perceived this too".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA