ROME – Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday dismissed a junior minister involved in a graft scandal, a government source said, despite resistance from the League party which had backed the official.
The issue has created fierce tensions between the right-wing League and its coalition partner, the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, threatening to pull the alliance apart as the two parties compete ahead of this month’s European elections
Armando Siri, a transport ministry undersecretary and economic adviser to League chief Matteo Salvini, was put under investigation last month for allegedly accepting a bribe from a wind farm entrepreneur who has been linked to the Sicilian Mafia.
5-Star, whose support is based on a squeaky-clean image and a hard-line against corruption, had insisted the junior minister should go, while Salvini argued that he should remain in government until proven guilty in court.