There is controversy over the appointment of Northern League member Trifone "Nuccio" Altieri as the new president of the National Anti-Corruption Authority. The day after the Council of Ministers in which the procedure was started, the opposition wrote directly to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to ask her to withdraw the nomination. Not only that: the opposition, who have defined this designation as inappropriate if not tainted by incompatibility, have announced battle in the parliamentary commissions. In fact, to obtain a favorable opinion for the position as president of the Anac, two thirds of the votes will be needed. At the moment the Anac is led by the jurist Giuseppe Busia, who remains in office until his successor is formalized. Meloni, however, does not seem worried for now and during the day, to journalists who asked her why she made the choice, she replied: "What should I say? Because it was within our competence to do so". "I'm counting on everything to be absolutely regular," commented the deputy prime minister and leader of the League Matteo Salvini. After the opposition's letter, executive sources specified: "The government reiterates that it has adopted the resolution proposing the candidacy of Trifone Altieri for the presidency of the ANAC after having previously assessed and deemed any incompatibility profiles to be non-existent". The same sources added: the government "specifies that, before proceeding, the two main opposition parties were informed as quickly as possible, without any opposition or reservations being expressed on their part".
The opposition's letter to Meloni
The government's clarification came after a day of controversy and is destined to reignite the political conflict. In reality, the appointment of Lega deputy Giulio Centemero as Consob commissioner was also criticized. However, the controversy focused mainly on Altieri. So much so that the opposition, united, wrote to Prime Minister Meloni. "As opposition political forces we express the clearest opposition and strong institutional concern regarding the designation of the new president of the National Anti-Corruption Authority. The Anac is not an extension of the executive, nor a terrain for the political division of the majority forces. The very nature of the Authority requires at the top a figure characterized by unquestionable impartiality, absolute independence from the parties and proven and specific technical competence in the fight against corruption and in the supervision of public contracts", we read in the letter signed by the group leaders of Pd, M5s, Avs, Italia viva, +Europa, Azione. And again: "The choice of a profile coming from the active ranks of politics and the government coalition openly contrasts with the independence requirements essential to guarantee the credibility of the Authority, both in front of Italian citizens and in front of the European institutions that monitor the transparency of public procurement and funds".
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The Northern League member Trifone Altieri is the new president of the ANAC
Who is Altieri
Trifone Altieri joined the League in 2017, after having played in Forza Italia and having had brief experiences in Conservatives and reformists and in the Italian Directorate. Salvini, on 18 September 2024, entrusted him with the role of head of the League's Defense department: party sources, however, explained that the Apulian politician never held the position (which is no longer present in the League's organizational chart), because Altieri had immediately communicated to Armando Siri his unavailability to hold it as he was already a member of Leonardo's board of directors. Siri, coordinator of the departments, certified this in a letter on 27 September, in which he specified that the resolution for the assignment of the role was "to be understood as revoked for all purposes".
The clarification that does not extinguish the controversy
The League's clarification came after accusations from the opposition, who cited the law that regulates the appointment of the top of the National Anti-Corruption Authority. The third paragraph of article 13 of Legislative Decree 150 of 27 October 2009, they recalled, states that "the president and members of the Authority cannot be chosen from among people who hold elective public positions or positions in political parties or trade union organizations or who have held such positions and positions in the three years preceding the appointment and, in any case, must not have interests of any nature in conflict with the functions of the Authority". But the controversies did not stop. For Giuseppe Conte, Meloni's "is a serious choice". Angelo Bonelli, beyond party affiliation, underlined that "Altieri presides over Fincantieri Infrastrutture, a public company that lives on contracts. The controller who comes from the controlled?".
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