League leader Matteo Salvini said
Monday that any elected officials belonging to his party who
applied for a benefit designed to help the self-employed get
through the coronavirus emergency will not be able to run for
the League again.
A huge outcry has broken out after it emerged that many
politicians, including a handful of parliamentarians, claimed
the 600-euro benefit.
"I have given instructions for anyone who took, or applied for,
the bonus to be suspended and, in the case of elections, not
selected as a candidate," Salvini told RAI television.
The lawmakers reportedly were able to claim the benefit because
they also had active value-added tax accounts.
The cases of at least three lawmakers and hundreds of local
councillors were reportedly uncovered by the anti-fraud unit of
pensions and social security agency INPS.
INPS was reportedly unable to press charges though as
technically the MPs did not break the law.
But their conduct was clearly against the spirit of the
legislation and there have been bipartisan calls for INPS to
release the names of the MPs involved.
INPS sources said Monday that privacy rules prevented them from
doing this.
But on Tuesday Italy's privacy watchdog said that the nation's
privacy rules do not prevent the publication of the names of the
beneficiaries if "it is not possible to identify a condition of
social-economic hardship in the interested party".
It added that this was even more the case when the people
involved carried out public functions.
Sources said Wednesday that Lower House officials are in talks
with INPS about handing over the names of the MPs in question.
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