Renzi dismisses judicial-plot talk after Lodi case

(ANSA) - Rome, May 4 - Premier Matteo Renzi on Wednesday dismissed speculation elements in the judiciary could be working to undermine his government after Tuesday's arrest of the mayor of Lodi - the latest of several recent cases to hit the image of his centre-left Democratic Party (PD). "Obviously it hurts because it prevents the positive things about Italy being shown," Renzi told RTL radio.
    "But it is necessary to clear things up. With respect to the (talk of a) plot, I say 'what are you talking about?'.
    "There's an investigation taking place and I have total faith in the magistrates". Simone Uggetti was suspended as Lodi mayor on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of bid rigging on tenders for public swimming pools.
    He denies any wrongdoing and says he "acted for the good" of the northern city. The CSM is set to look at the case, a member of the judiciary's Italian self-governing body said Wednesday. Giuseppe Fanfani, a non-magistrate CSM member nominated by the PD, said he will ask the body to look into the "legitimacy of the behaviour and the provisions adopted" in this case.
    Fanfani said the action taken against Uggetti was "unjustified and excessive". Uggetti has suspended himself from the PD, his lawyer Pietro Gabriele Roveda said Wednesday after questioning with a preliminary investigations judge at Milan's San Vittore prison. Roveda said Uggetti had done so to protect "the image of the party that he represents".