RAI State broadcaster
president-designate Marcello Foa said Wednesday he had Never
intended to "offend or disrespect" President Sergio Mattarella
when he tweeted "disgust" after the head of State rejected
anti-euro economist Paolo Savona as economy minister.
Addressing the RAI parliamentary oversight committee, which
is set to ratify his appointment, Foa said "it's not my habit, I
rarely attack or lack respect, far less with regard to the top
figure in the State, because of my feelings of esteem in his
regard, out of respect for his role as servant of the State and
his history, which saw the supreme sacrifice of a member of his
family".
Foa was referring to Mattarella's elder brother Piersanti who
was assassinated by the mafia in 1980.
Mattarella's rejection of Savona - later moved to the
European Affairs brief - spurred the anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement to briefly call for his impeachment.
Foa is widely expected to be ratified later Wednesday after
three-time ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi dropped the opposition
that caused the journalist to be rejected in an earlier
oversight body vote.
On Tuesday Rai union USIGRAI said there is a risk of
"illegitimacy" over Foa's probable ratification.
The union wrote to the parliamentary Speakers Roberto Fico
and Elisabetta Casellati as well as to the parliamentary RAI
oversight panel urging them to carry out "an in-depth assessment
to ensure the legitimacy, beyond all reasonable doubt, of the
vote you are about to take".
The RAI board on Friday voted to nominate Foa its new
president.
The board also nominated Foa, the government's pick to lead
the network, in July, but parliament's oversight body of the
State broadcaster failed to ratify the appointment.
This time, however, Foa is expected to get a majority vote as
Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party is tipped to drop
its opposition.
Deputy Premier and 5-Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio said
Foa was "an independent journalist" and said he hoped the
oversight body would approve him this time around.
He said the whole process had been "in the light of day",
denying secret deals.
Berlusconi reportedly agreed to Foa at a meeting with ruling
League leader Matteo Salvini where he reportedly received
assurances on his Mediaset media empire, RAI's rival.
Foa is a controversial figure due to previous Euroskeptic,
pro-Putin, anti-vaccine, anti-gay and anti-immigrant stances and
his sharing of fake news including Hillary Clinton's supposed
Satanic dinners - as well as the tweet against Mattarella.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) leader on the RAI
oversight body, Davide Faraone, said Foa's appointment had been
the product of a "shameful shady deal" between the government
parties and Berlusconi.
He said it was an affront to "democracy and parliament".
In other statements to the oversight body, Foa vowed to
uphold RAI's "pluralism" and "independence", as well as its
"capacity to serve readers with humility and intellectual
honesty".
Foa is a former foreign desk chief at the Berlusconi
conservative family newspaper, Il Giornale.
He was hired by the late doyen of Italian journalism, Indro
Montanelli.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA