Ex-premier Giuseppe Conte said
Thursday that the members of his 5-Star Movement (M5S) holding
positions in Puglia would quit after the southern region's
political sphere was hit by a fresh round of arrests on
Wednesday.
Conte's announcement is a new blow to efforts for Italy's
opposition parties to join forces in order to rival Premier
Giorgia Meloni's ruling centre-right coalition.
A former member of the Puglia regional executive, Alfonso
Pisicchio, the leader of the Sud al Centro party, was put under
house arrest on Wednesday along with his brother in a corruption
probe.
Last week Conte announced that the M5S would not take part in
primaries to select the centre left's candidate for upcoming
local elections in Bari after the Democratic Party's (PD) Anita
Maurodinoia resigned as Puglia regional transport councillor
when it emerged she was among the people under investigation in
a probe into alleged vote buying in the province of Bari.
That decision irked the PD, the other main opposition group.
Bari was already at the centre of political tension after the
central government launched an inspection of the municipal
administration for possible mafia infiltration following another
probe.
Bari Mayor Antonio Decaro, a PD member, says the move, which
could lead to the city council being dissolved, is linked to
June's local elections in the city.
"We are reading political news that is also judicial news,"
Conte said.
"We aren't just fighting Meloni and her associates. We won't
give an easy ride to those on our side either.
"We want to shake things up in a big way.
"It's time to clean things up and clean the slate. We must root
out bad politics.
"We renounce our role in the (regional) government, we give up
all our mandates".
The M5S is part of the coalition that supports Puglia Governor
Michele Emiliano's coalition in the regional assembly.
The M5S's Rosa Barone is part of Emiliano's executive, holding
the role of welfare chief, while Grazia di Bari is the
councillor with the culture portfolio and Cristian Casili is
deputy president of the regional assembly.
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