«We are reading political pages that are also judicial news that make our pulses tremble. We don’t just fight Meloni and his associates, we don’t even give discounts to those in our field. We want to give a very strong shake, it’s time to clean up and clean the slate. We must root out bad politics. We renounce our government role in the Puglia Region, we leave our positions in the council, we give up all delegations. Let’s give up our roles in order to change.” The leader of the M5S, Giuseppe Conte, said this in Bari, after the latest round of arrests. And he added: «We place ourselves outside the majority perimeter, but we work on the protocol and the legality pact».
Conte: M5S out of majority in Puglia but we work on legality
The 5 Star Movement is in the majority that supports the president of the Region, Michele Emiliano, and is in the regional council with one of its representatives, Rosa Barone, councilor for Welfare, and with a councilor who has the delegation for Culture, Grazia di Bari. While Cristian Casili is vice president of the Regional Council.
As for the municipal elections in Bari, where the M5s decided to cancel the primaries scheduled for April 7, Conte reiterated his support for candidate Michele Laforgia. «In Bari we have a mayoral candidate – said the M5s leader – which we did not propose, it was initially proposed by the civic bodies, by the Italian Left, we arrived later. He is a very estimable person who has built a project for the city in recent months, we have taken note of this and it would be madness today to abandon such a candidacy. In this very difficult moment for Bari, Laforgia is the only candidate who can relaunch a city government that is responsive to the needs of citizens”
Former Puglia councilor Pisicchio and his brother arrested
Meanwhile, the judicial earthquake continues in Bari. Last night a former councilor of the Puglia Region, the leader of Senso civico Alfonso Pisicchio, and his brother Enzo, ended up under house arrest as part of an investigation by the Bari Prosecutor’s Office. The crimes accused of the former councilor of the council Emiliano, and to another five people arrested (one in prison, four under house arrest) are, among other things, corruption for an act contrary to official duties, corruption for the exercise of the function, fraud, aggravated fraud for the obtaining of public funds , material falsity, disturbed freedom of auctions, issuing of invoices for non-existent operations. A few hours before being arrested, Alfonso Pisicchio had resigned from the leadership of the Puglia Technology Agency, explaining that “there was no conspiracy” behind his choice.
Three alleged rigged tenders are under scrutiny
The investigation coordinated by the Bari Prosecutor’s Office concerns three alleged rigged tenders. Cosimo Napoletano, 58 years old, from Monopoli, ended up in prison. Under house arrest, in addition to the Pisicchio brothers, are Francesco Catanese, 59 years old, from Bari, and the 58 year old entrepreneur Giovanni Riefoli, originally from Barletta but resident in Bari. The ban from professional activity for one year concerns Vincenzo Iannuzzi and Grazia Palmitessa. In the order signed by the investigating judge of the Bari court, Ilaria Casu, it is highlighted that for Alfonsino Pisiscchio the accusations of corruption and disturbed freedom of auctions concern the period in which he was councilor of the Emiliano council, when he allegedly used «his political influence and his relations, through his brother Enzo, for a clientelistic management of his role, with favoritism to obtain returns in terms of electoral consensus, through hiring in favored or advantaged companies of people who ensure the vote and who had also served in his party”. Enzo Pisicchio, on the other hand, would have acted «as an executor of the directives» of his brother «and as a screen to prevent tracing the role and contribution of Alfonsino».
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2024-04-13 02:57:05