All-out war on the Rai Supervisory Board: all board members resign. Accusations fly between the majority and the opposition
Previously, members of the PD, 5Stelle, AVS and IV had left, as well as Chairwoman Floridia
It is all-out war on the Rai Supervisory Board. Following the resignation of the opposition members, the centre-right members have also chosen to step down. “We, too, like the opposition, are resigning from the Rai Supervisory Board, which has been taken over, hijacked and exploited in an irresponsible manner by the left. The left has cynically exploited the law on Rai, which requires a two-thirds majority to elect the Chair – a provision we have been trying to change over recent months.”
This is stated by the centre-right members of the Rai Supervisory Commission in a statement in which they add that ‘it is, in fact, anomalous that the President of Rai cannot be elected by a majority after a certain number of votes, a scenario which is, in contrast, provided for even in the case of the office of President of the Republic. And the opposition parties have, in fact, shamefully exploited this law, thereby preventing Rai from having a president despite the fact that one had already been nominated some time ago by Rai’s own Board of Directors’.
Shortly before, the opposition parties had opted for the most high-profile move – the one that turns a deadlock into an all-out institutional crisis. All minority members of the Parliamentary Supervisory Committee for Rai have tendered their resignations. This mass resignation, unprecedented in political terms, involves MPs from the PD, M5S, AVS and Italia Viva, and strikes at the heart of the body responsible for overseeing the public service broadcaster.
Paralysed for over a year
This is yet another appeal – but this time in the most sensational form – to break the deadlock into which the Supervisory Board has been mired for over a year. The most pressing issue is the ratification of Simona Agnes as chair of Rai. The centre-right supports her, whilst the opposition opposes her. Consequently, whenever the election of the chair appeared on the agenda, members of the majority would walk out, bringing proceedings to a standstill.
The chairwoman Barbara Floridia, of the M5S, announced her resignation in very strong terms: “Today I handed my resignation as chair of the Parliamentary Supervisory Committee on Rai to the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.” She added: “It is a painful but necessary and inevitable decision. I have had to acknowledge that staying on and speaking out has served no purpose. All that remains for me to do is to send a strong message in the face of the arrogance and unscrupulous use that this majority makes of the institutions and parliamentary committees.”
