M5S, PD bicker over RAI

(ANSA) - Rome, July 25 - The chairman of a parliamentary watchdog committee for state broadcaster RAI, Roberto Fico, said Monday that the publishing of RAI salaries online was the merit of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), which he is an MP for.
    The statement was posted on Fico's Facebook page after committee secretary and Democratic Party (PD) MP Michele Anzaldi said earlier in the day that the M5S had hindered the initiative. Anzaldi wrote on his Facebook page that the M5S "would like to take the credit for the publication of RAI salaries" as per the government's RAI reform law, but "when the bill was before parliament they (M5S) voted against it with the usual litany of insults, obstructionism and baseless accusations. What in the world are they talking about?" Committee chairman Fico countered that the provisions for transparency - including the online publication of staff and executive salaries - was thanks to a version of the bill submitted by the M5S.
    He added that the RAI reform law "is a horrible reform" because since it keeps the broadcaster closely tied to the government instead of taking political affiliations out of the mix, and this is why the M5S voted against it.