ROME: Italy’s culture minister quit on Friday after controversy over a consultancy role for his former mistress that had become an embarrassment for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.

Gennaro Sangiuliano, a 62-year-old former journalist, has faced a media storm since self-proclaimed fashion entrepreneur Maria Rosaria Boccia said last month she had been nominated “adviser to the minister for major events”.

The culture ministry initially denied such an appointment, but Sangiuliano later explained he had agreed to take her on as an unpaid consultant before changing his mind due to conflict of interest.

“I deem it necessary for the institutions and for myself to hand in my resignation,” Sangiuliano said in his letter to the prime minister, defending his record and denying any breach of ministerial rules.

In a tearful prime time TV interview on Wednesday, Sangiuliano had acknowledged that Boccia had been his lover, apologised to his wife and Meloni, and said the prime minister had rejected his first offer to resign.

The case has dominated front pages and evoked comparisons with past scandals, including the infamous “bunga bunga” night parties hosted by former premier Silvio Berlusconi. Meloni quickly picked Alessandro Giuli, head of a museum in Rome, as new culture minister.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024