Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa on Monday denied calling for the head of an advisor to President Sergio Mattarella at the centre of a row for allegedly saying in a private conversation that Premier Giorgia Meloni's progress towards a second term should be stopped.
Meloni met Mattarella last week and told the head of State that the comments reportedly made by the advisor, Francesco Saverio Garofani, were institutionally and politically inopportune, sources said The furore stemmed from a newspaper article based on an overheard private conversation Garofani, a former lawmaker for the opposition, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) who is also the secretary of the Supreme Council of Defence, had in a restaurant.
After the meeting Meloni had with Mattarella, her and La Russa's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party said the case was closed.
When asked about Garofani on Monday, La Russa replied: "he's the secretary of the Supreme Defense Council, the person who's responsible for national defence - I think it's probably best for him to leave that role to someone else".
The Speaker subsequently said that this comment did not amount to him calling for Garofani to resign.
