“Secretary Enrico Letta has asked the National Guarantee Commission of the Democratic Party to meet as a matter of urgency.” The Pd makes it known. “This in order to take the most appropriate decisions, to guarantee the honourability of the community of democrats and women and to protect the exponents themselves called into question, so that they are more free to explain their reasons and provide the clarifications that will be requested by the authorities investigators. The Democratic Party confirms that it is the injured party in this matter and will act accordingly in all judicial bodies”. “We need to say that honesty and sobriety, respect for the rules in the light of what is shamefully happening in Brussels will return to center of political action. Thus Stefano Bonaccini, on the sidelines of an initiative in Parma, speaking of the ‘Qatargate’.
«In my motion there will be public funding for parties. If we want to double the 2xmille for equals, introduce the German model, I am convinced that for politics, the relationship with private individuals is an element of risk that we can no longer afford”. Paola De Micheli said so on ‘Coffee break’, then she also spoke of Qatargate: «The Democratic Party is the injured party. I believe the reaction should only be rigorous, severe, without discounts. Other involvements are emerging that must be ascertained, the guarantee must apply to everyone. I am very concerned about the reaction. Letta’s guarantee commission is good, but we have to come up with stronger institutions’ control and protection mechanisms. If we come out as before, without touching a straw, the risk is that nothing will change. We need to change the rules”. “The European Parliament should immediately remove the parliamentary immunity of all the deputies involved and not allow them to contaminate evidence and repeat crimes. The sewer must be completely brought to the surface to prevent the institution from being overwhelmed too» is the comment of Luigi de Magistris, spokesman for Unione Popolare.
Qatargate, Panzeri’s web: sieving 7 Italian accounts
giuseppe salvaggiulo and monica serra
Visentini: “Donation from an NGO taken in good faith”
Ituc president Luca Visentini, involved in the Qatargate investigation, claims to have accepted “in good faith” the donation from Fight Impunity for “the campaign for the Ituc congress which took place in Melbourne from 12 to 22 November ». “The international union regularly receives donations for campaigns and projects from various foundations and NGOs – he continues -. In this case, it was an organization for the defense of human rights that collaborated with the trade union world, so this donation did not appear suspicious in any way and was accepted in absolute good faith. All the contribution was used for transparent and demonstrable expenses. Ituc is not involved in the investigation in any way».
“Being in solitary confinement for 48 hours was terrible, knowing I was innocent. Being involved in this story has been a shock for me and my family.” This is how Luca Visentini talks about his brief experience in prison in Brussels as part of the Qatargate investigation. “I am innocent – he continues -. I have never done anything in bad faith, I have never been corrupted and I could never have imagined what was behind this organization. My first thought is to protect the reputation of Ituc and my personal one».
The EU agency facilitated bilateral contacts
“At Belgium’s request, Eurojust allowed rapid bilateral contacts between the Belgian and Italian authorities to support the execution of the request for judicial cooperation” on Qatargate. This was indicated by a spokesman of the same EU agency for criminal justice cooperation, questioned by ANSA. Eurojust supports coordination and judicial collaboration between national administrations in the fight against terrorism and serious forms of organized crime affecting more than one European country.
Calenda on Twitter: “What is happening could lead to the dissolution of the Democratic Party”
“The reason why the Soumahoro, Qatar, D’Alema, Morocco cases are so devastating for the left is that their only raison d’être has long since become: ”we are the good guys”. The right has been hit by worse scandals, on the local ruling class, but it bears them better ». Carlo Calenda writes it on Twitter. «Moralism brings with it many risks especially when associated with governmentism. But the left cannot get out of this trap because it has no alternative proposal. He cannot do politics because his base is divided on almost everything except moralism and anti-fascism», continues the leader of Azione, adding: «For these reasons, what is happening can really lead to the dissolution of the PD and the left-left and its relocation or in the original moralist (5S) or in the political proposal of the #terzopolo”.
Qatargate, Meloni on the attack: “It’s a devastating story”. Metsola: “No impunity”
by our correspondent MARCO BRESOLIN
