Giorgia Meloni made public request for Daniela Santanchè to quit in effort to restore credibility after voters rejected judicial reform
Italy’s embattled tourism minister has resigned, heeding a call to step down as the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, strives to restore credibility after a bruising defeat in a referendum that has thrown her far-right government into turmoil.
The resignation on Wednesday of Daniela Santanchè, a prominent and brash member of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, came after the prime minister took the unusual step of calling in a public statement for her to go.
Italy’s constitution states that prime ministers can propose a government minister to the president, who in turn makes the appointment, but they do not have the power to unilaterally sack one.
Meloni and the justice minister, Carlo Nordio, have rejected calls from some opposition leaders to themselves resign over the referendum on judicial reforms, which marked the first major political setback for the prime minister, who since coming to power in October 2022 has led one of the most stable governments in the history of the Italian republic.
