Polemics over Monte Carlo flat rumble on
(ANSA) - Rome, August 10 - Polemics over a judicial probe on the sale of an apartment in Monte Carlo willed to the right-wing party which House
Speaker Gianfranco Fini merged into premier Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PdL) party flared on Tuesday after a newspaper began collecting a petition for his resignation.
Il Giornale, a daily owned by Berlusconi's brother Paolo, urged readers to send in "waves of signatures and send Fini home".
Rome prosecutors began their probe last week after two ex members of Fini's old National Alliance (AN), now with a rival rightist formation, filed a formal complaint on suspected fraud charges.
According to Il Giornale, the flat, in a swank area of Monte Carlo, was allegedly sold at a knockdown price to an offshore company which then sold it to another offshore company and then to a third which now rents it to the brother of Fini's partner Elisabetta Tulliani.
Fini has sued the paper for libel, saying the allegations are false and defamatory.
On Sunday he offered a detailed eight-point explanation of the deal, rejecting accusations of wrongdoing launched by political rivals, including former AN aides and PdL MPs.
Fini, once widely expected to become Berlusconi's political heir, distanced himself from the premier on a number of issues shortly after their PdL party swept into power in the 2008 general elections.
After months of acrimonious exchanges, Berlusconi threw Fini out of the party two weeks ago.
The Speaker immediately formed a breakaway parliamentary group - Future and Freedom for Italy (FLI) - depriving the government of a majority in the House and raising the spectre of early elections.
In his written statement, Fini stressed that in nearly 30 years of parliamentary activity he had never had problems with the judiciary, a direct jab to Berlusconi who has been beset with court cases since his entry into politics in 1994.
"I have absolutely nothing to hide or to fear over this Monte Carlo story," Fini said.
The Speaker said the flat was in dire need of renovation and had been sold by AN for 300,000 euros in 2008 after Giancarlo Tulliani - the brother of Fini's partner Elisabetta Tulliani - told him that he knew a company willing to buy it.
Fini said he was surprised and disappointed when he later learned from his partner that her brother Giancarlo was renting the flat.
The speaker said he felt obliged to present his side of the story because the pro-Berlusconi papers have been waging an "obsessive campaign" against him.
On Tuesday, Il Giornale said its newsrooms were being swamped with e-mails, faxes, letters and cell phone text messages urging Fini to go.
In a front-page editorial, the paper's editor-in-chief Vittorio Feltri, also said early elections were inevitable because Fini's FLI group will break with the Berlusconi government once parliament reconvenes in September.
Other dailies, including Italy's leading Corriere della Sera, have been devoting front-page attention to the story since the judicial probe began last week.
Critics, including the leader of the opposition Italy of Values party, former graft-busting magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, say Fini's explanations have come too late and are not sufficient.
But FLI MPs are sticking to Speaker's side and urging critics to wait for the end of the judicial probe.
photo: Monte Carlo condo.
Il Giornale, a daily owned by Berlusconi's brother Paolo, urged readers to send in "waves of signatures and send Fini home".
Rome prosecutors began their probe last week after two ex members of Fini's old National Alliance (AN), now with a rival rightist formation, filed a formal complaint on suspected fraud charges.
According to Il Giornale, the flat, in a swank area of Monte Carlo, was allegedly sold at a knockdown price to an offshore company which then sold it to another offshore company and then to a third which now rents it to the brother of Fini's partner Elisabetta Tulliani.
Fini has sued the paper for libel, saying the allegations are false and defamatory.
On Sunday he offered a detailed eight-point explanation of the deal, rejecting accusations of wrongdoing launched by political rivals, including former AN aides and PdL MPs.
Fini, once widely expected to become Berlusconi's political heir, distanced himself from the premier on a number of issues shortly after their PdL party swept into power in the 2008 general elections.
After months of acrimonious exchanges, Berlusconi threw Fini out of the party two weeks ago.
The Speaker immediately formed a breakaway parliamentary group - Future and Freedom for Italy (FLI) - depriving the government of a majority in the House and raising the spectre of early elections.
In his written statement, Fini stressed that in nearly 30 years of parliamentary activity he had never had problems with the judiciary, a direct jab to Berlusconi who has been beset with court cases since his entry into politics in 1994.
"I have absolutely nothing to hide or to fear over this Monte Carlo story," Fini said.
The Speaker said the flat was in dire need of renovation and had been sold by AN for 300,000 euros in 2008 after Giancarlo Tulliani - the brother of Fini's partner Elisabetta Tulliani - told him that he knew a company willing to buy it.
Fini said he was surprised and disappointed when he later learned from his partner that her brother Giancarlo was renting the flat.
The speaker said he felt obliged to present his side of the story because the pro-Berlusconi papers have been waging an "obsessive campaign" against him.
On Tuesday, Il Giornale said its newsrooms were being swamped with e-mails, faxes, letters and cell phone text messages urging Fini to go.
In a front-page editorial, the paper's editor-in-chief Vittorio Feltri, also said early elections were inevitable because Fini's FLI group will break with the Berlusconi government once parliament reconvenes in September.
Other dailies, including Italy's leading Corriere della Sera, have been devoting front-page attention to the story since the judicial probe began last week.
Critics, including the leader of the opposition Italy of Values party, former graft-busting magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, say Fini's explanations have come too late and are not sufficient.
But FLI MPs are sticking to Speaker's side and urging critics to wait for the end of the judicial probe.
photo: Monte Carlo condo.
