Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano has admitted to having an affair and has offered his resignation to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a scandal that has dominated Italian newspaper headlines for days.
Sixty-two-year-old Sangiuliano, a married man, became caught up in the scandal last month after a woman named Maria Rosaria Boccia, aged 41, started posting photos on social media sites of her with the minister at various public events, as well as emails and aeroplane boarding passes, writes AFP.
Publicity forced Sangiuliano to admit in a long interview on state television—during which he broke down in tears—that his liaison with Boccia “had become a sentimental relationship” in May.
He said he had apologised to his wife, as well as to PM Giorgia Meloni “for embarrassing her and the government.” He said he was ready to resign but the prime minister “told me to continue.” He said he met Boccia at an event in Naples in May, but insisted that he had put an end to the affair in late July/early August.
Reuters reported.that Sangiuliano rebuked accusations by the opposition that the woman, a self-proclaimed fashion entrepreneur, was hired by the ministry, benefitted from public funds, and had access to confidential documents relating to a meeting of G7 culture ministers
Maria Rosaria Boccia last week posted on her Instagram account that she had been nominated “Advisor to the minister for major events.” The minister said that “not a single euro” of public money had been spent on Boccia, and that her involvement in planning for the G7 Culture Meeting had been limited to peripheral matters such as the menu and gadgets.
He also shared bank statements in the interview to back up his assertion that he had paid for Boccia’s travel himself, denying claims that he had used public money.
Maria Rosaria Boccia disputed that, publishing documents on Instagram that she said proved she had been involved in meetings, site events and consultations.
MP Angelo Bonelli of the opposition Green Europe party said he had filed a legal complaint against Sangiuliano on the grounds of embezzlement and disclosing confidential information. Alessandro Zan of the centre-left Democratic Party said the affair “puts into question the government’s credibility.”
Meloni, who has led a stable conservative government for the past two years, has not yet asked Sangiuliano to resign, but has said an investigation is ongoing.
