Rome Mayor Raggi admits to bad start (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, February 6 - Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has admitted her administration made a poor start while adding that she was turning things around and had the support of her anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and leader Beppe Grillo.
    Raggi is under investigation over an appointment.
    The case of life-insurance policies taken out by her former cabinet chief in which she is the beneficiary also hit the headlines, although prosecutors have ruled out any wrongdoing by the mayor over the latter.
    "The start was wrong. But today we can say that we have opened a new phase," Raggi said in an interview published in Monday's Corriere della Sera, adding that relations with Grillo were "excellent".
    "The story of the policy was inflated on purpose by the newspapers to discredit me via an outrageous operation". The former cabinet chief, Salvatore Romeo, on Monday denied that there were political motives behind the life-insurance policies. Romeo told State broadcaster RAI that the policies were "not excessively risky, quit remunerative forms of investment".
    The M5S is vying with the ruling centre-left Democratic Party (PD) to be Italy's top party and Raggi's tenure at the Rome helm has been widely seen as a test for its ability to govern Italy.
    The movement prides itself on being fee from the corruption it says has tainted all other parties.
    Raggi has had a string of appointments woes and has been accused of failing to get to grips with the government of the Italian capital.
    Critics say probes against two of her former appointees show the M5S is not as virtuous as it claims.