Mass resignations paralyze Italian broadcaster's oversight commission

Italy's Rai Supervisory Commission has collapsed amid a mass resignation of its members. The commission, responsible for overseeing the public broadcaster Rai, has been effectively paralyzed for almost two years due to political deadlock.

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It is a necessary political act – a consequence of the paralysis that has prevented the Commission from performing its oversight role for months, due to internal divisions within the majority and a management that has effectively emptied its functions.

Opposition members, led by commission president Barbara Floridia, resigned first. They cited "paralysis imposed by the majority" and "arrogance and unscrupulous use of institutions." They argued that internal divisions within the majority government have prevented the commission from fulfilling its oversight role.

Following the opposition's departure, members from the ruling coalition also resigned. They accused the "left" of cynically exploiting Rai's governance laws and "occupying, sequestrating, and irresponsibly instrumentalizing" the commission. The center-right bloc expressed readiness to form a new commission and quickly appoint a president for Rai.

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It is a painful but necessary and inevitable decision. I had to acknowledge that staying and denouncing did not help. I have no choice but to send a strong signal in the face of the arrogance and unscrupulous use that this majority makes of institutions and parliamentary commissions.

The stalemate began in autumn 2024 when attempts to elect a president failed. The minority sought a consensus candidate, refusing to participate in a vote that required a two-thirds majority. The majority, asserting its right to choose, boycotted proceedings, effectively halting all activity. Even appeals from President Sergio Mattarella and parliamentary leaders failed to break the impasse.

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I have never seen such unscrupulous occupation of Rai. The political responsibility for this disaster has a name and surname: Giorgia Meloni.

The presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate will now attempt to reform the commission for the remainder of the legislative term. However, the opposition appears likely to renominate its members, potentially leading to another stalemate. Meanwhile, a separate reform of Rai's governance is under discussion in the Senate, which could allow for the election of a president by a simple majority.

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We too, like the opposition, resign from the Rai Supervisory Commission, which has been occupied, seized, and irresponsibly instrumentalized by the left. They cynically exploited the Rai law, which requires a two-thirds majority to elect the president, which we are trying to change in these months.