ROME: Italy’s government adopted an anti-corruption law yesterday in a bid to clamp down on scandals riddling right and left-wing parties as recession-hit Italians lose faith in a crooked political class.
“Italy badly needs a strong legal framework to fight corruption. This law is a good start,” anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said. “The law has some, if not all, of the elements required to overcome the rampant cronyism and influence peddling in Italian politics,” it added.
Corruption costs the debt-laden country an estimated ¤60bn ($78bn) a year according to Italy’s Court of Accounts. Under the new law, a national anti-corruption authority will be set up and local and regional administrations will have to set in place anti-corruption plans. Prison sentences for those convicted of bribery are being toughened to up to eight years from five years. Corrupting the justice system now carries a maximum 10-year sentence, up from a maximum of eight years, and extortion up to 12 years.
The law, which was given the green light at a confidence vote, also includes legislation to protect employees who blow the whistle on corruption and bans those convicted of corruption from running for public office. “I am very satisfied. The vote shows this law is widely supported,” said Justice Minister Paola Severino.
Prime Minister Mario Monti, who took over from media magnate Silvio Berlusconi in November as the eurozone debt crisis hit Italy, had fought to speed up implementation of the law amid corruption scandals within the parties. Allegations of fraud and misuse of party funds have dominated regional politics over the past few months, leading to resignations and new elections.
The anti-corruption Italy of Values party, which did not vote for the new law, accused the government of settling for half-measures as it struggled to strike a compromise which would be accepted across the political spectrum.
Severino retorted that issues such as vote-selling and money laundering were not covered by the law but were being debated.
AFP
