Giuseppe Conte very harsh in front of the Covid Commission: “A firing squad against me”. Malan replies: “You are holding a political rally”
After his resignation on 2 August as a member of the same Parliamentary commission of inquiry into the management of the health emergencytoday came the day in which former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was heard at Palazzo San Macuto regarding the response to the Covid pandemic.
“After summons, postponements and dismissals, the moment has finally arrived: tomorrow, starting around 11 am, I will be heard by the Covid Commission. I trust that this is truly the right time”, the former prime minister had written on the eve of the summons, asserting that he would speak “in order to sweep away all the mud”.
Conte’s words before the Commission
“We’re finally here… I swear to tell the truth about my honor.” After more than 3 hours of delay due to the work of the Chamber of Deputies, Giuseppe Conte finally appeared before the Covid Commission for the hearing scheduled today, stating that he take on “all the responsibility, including political ones obviously of my conduct as well as my declarations.”
The former prime minister immediately goes on the attack, stating that “this Commission was conceived as a firing squad against me and, at the same time, also as a protective cage for the local administrators of their parties”.
Chinese masks
We then got to the point, starting from the Commission’s line of investigation into the so-called “Chinese masks” and on the supplies approved by the commissioner structure of the time led by Domenico Arcuri.
“A document arrived in my hands anonymously” on the delivery of “over 7 million masks that did not correspond to the requested characteristics. This matter deserves further investigation and this is why I handed over this document to the Prosecutor’s Office last Monday”, declared Conte.
A “ten page” document – “with the names blacked out but all the qualifications are there” – was filed. “There is the possibility that 100 million euros from the state have been transacted and delivered to a private companya considerable figure”, moreover “for masks that did not correspond to the anticipated and declared characteristics”.
A delivery agreed upon by the then “omnipotent” commissioner Arcuri, who acted during the yellow-red government, led by Giuseppe Conte.
Conte against the commission
The former prime minister seems to want to lash out against the Commission rather than give an account of his actions: “You can dig as much as you want: you will never find anything illicit as far as I’m concernedbecause there have simply never been any illicit behaviors that involve me”
“I don’t allow anyone to cast shadows on the management of the pandemic”, strong words due to the countless scandals come to lightincluding those relating to the technical-scientific committee.
According to Conte, however, “these shadows that you cast end up inevitably extending to the men and women of the state who fought to safeguard the national community”. In short, no criticism.
Malan’s replies
The former prime minister therefore seems to have mistaken the Commission for a political rally, from attacks on the government for the Delmastro case to the a priori and rhetorical defense of his own “honor”.
Speaking in response to Conte’s attacks, the FdI senator Lucio Malan (member of the commission) replied: “Conte complained that the commission of inquiry was a firing squad, but today he he mistakes it for the stage of an all-out rally, where he is talking about anything except what the law attributes to the Commission: from yesterday’s vote on the chats to the PNRR, from the state budget that he would have left in perfect order, from what someone writes on social media to his supreme courage.
“The size of the PNRR funds (largely loans to be repaid) was proportional to the collapse of the gross domestic product caused by the measures taken by his own government,” Malan pointed out.
