Premier Giuseppe Conte's
spokesman is under fire after the release of an audio recording
of a conversation with two journalists in which he talked about
the possibility of purging the economy ministry of officials who
have allegedly been hampering the government's plan to introduce
a 'citizenship wage' basic income.
Opposition parties have called on the spokesman, journalist
Rocco Casalino, to be sacked but Conte and the 5-Star Movement
both defended him and criticised the release of the audio.
Casalino is a former participant in the Italian version of
reality show Big Brother.
Former premier and ex-leader of the centre-left Democratic
Party (PD), Matteo Renzi, said the case showed "we are faced
with cudgels via the Web".
European Parliament President Antonio Tajani of Silvio
Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party said "they had
purges in Stalin's time".
The Italian journalists' guild's (ODG) Lombardy branch have
opened a probe into the case.
This could lead them to refer the case to the territorial
discipline council.
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