2026-03-25 19:10
publication
2026-03-25 19:10
Italian Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanche resigned on Wednesday, responding to the appeal of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Several investigations into Santanche have been ongoing for many months in matters relating to the companies she founded.
Daniela Santanche, who has been involved in Italian politics and business activities for years, is suspected of, among other things, intentionally causing the bankruptcy of three companies, as well as falsifying the budget of the Visibilia publishing group that she founded. Earlier, proceedings were initiated against her for fraud to the detriment of the Italian social security institution in connection with payments from a fund created during the Covid-19 pandemic.
After Monday's defeat in the referendum on judicial reform, Prime Minister Meloni demanded the resignation of the people under investigation from the government. Undersecretary at the Ministry of Justice Andrea Delmastro resigned. The media revealed that he had shares in a restaurant linked to the mafia. The head of the cabinet at the Ministry of Justice, Giusi Bartolozzi, also resigned from her position. It is the subject of an investigation into the circumstances of sending back to Libya on a government plane the head of the Libyan judicial police detained in Italy, wanted by the tribunal in The Hague for war crimes.
Giorgia Meloni publicly suggested to the Tourism Minister on Tuesday that she resign from her position. Daniela Santanche announced her resignation the next day.
The Italian media, reporting on these events, emphasize that the current “earthquake” in the government is also a consequence of the government's defeat in the referendum, in which citizens rejected the bill on judicial reform prepared by the center-right coalition. Commentators even wrote about the Prime Minister's “fury”.
From Rome Sylwia Wysocka (PAP)
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