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Posted on 04/06/2012 3:18:46 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Umberto Bossi, the firebrand leader of Italy's opposition Northern League party, resigned yesterday (5 April) after allegations that taxpayers' money was used to pay for renovations at his villa and holidays for his children.
He resigned to "better defend and protect the image of the movement and of his family in this delicate situation," the party said in a statement.
The move, announced by the League after a meeting of its federal council in Milan, is likely to destabilise the populist, anti-immigration party, weakening one of the main political forces opposing Prime Minister Mario Monti's austerity programme in parliament.
Earlier this week, prosecutors placed the party's treasurer, Francesco Belsito, and two other officials under investigation over accusations of fraud and illegal party financing.
Belsito, who resigned on Tuesday, allegedly used the party's funds to pay for the personal expenses of Bossi's sons, including travel, dinners, hotel accommodation and expensive cars, as well as for improvements to the leader's house.
Bossi, 70, is not under investigation and has denied ever using the party's money for his or his family's benefit.
The raucous leader, known for his unorthodox, rabble-rousing rhetoric, had been at the helm of the League since founding it in the late 1980s as a northern-based counterweight to the corrupt ways of "Roma Ladrona" ("Robber Rome"). …
(Excerpt) Read more at euractiv.com ...
*ping of interest*
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