Italian govt agrees to scrap party funding

(ANSA) – Rome, December 13 – Premier Enrico Letta’s coalition government agreed on a measure to scrap public funding of Italy’s political parties at a cabinet meeting on Friday, Reform Minister Gaetano Quagliariello said via his Twitter account, @QuagliarielloG. “It’s done: public financing of the parties abolished!,” he posted. “Now we move forward with the reduction of the number of parliamentarians. These are deeds”.

Letta’s left-right government pledged to phase out public funding of the parties after being sworn in in April, following a long series of high-profile corruption scandals that hit various parts of the country’s political spectrum.

The premier also used Twitter before the cabinet meeting to announce his government would take action on the issue. “In April we promised to abolish public funding of parties by the end of the year,” Letta posted on his account, @EnricoLetta. “I confirmed this on Wednesday. Today in the cabinet we’ll keep the promise”.