Opposition parties have called on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to address parliament directly over the Niscemi landslide on Sunday. They argue that the scale and history of the disaster require intervention at the highest political level.
The request comes ahead of a scheduled address to the Lower House on 4 February by Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci. Opposition figures say Meloni, rather than Musumeci alone, should report on the causes of the landslide and the government’s response.
Calls for Musumeci resignation
Several opposition politicians have also called for Musumeci’s resignation. The criticism focuses on his previous role as governor of Sicily between 2017 and 2022 and on claims that warnings about the area’s instability were ignored.
Angelo Bonelli of the Green-Left Alliance said Musumeci had access to documentation highlighting the risks in Niscemi but failed to act. Bonelli said the minister had shown himself to be “totally inadequate” and that resignation was the only appropriate response.
The centrist Italia Viva party has launched a petition calling for Musumeci to step down. Party lawmakers described his public statements on the emergency as politically reckless, accusing him of minimising the seriousness of the situation while Sicily counts the damage from Cyclone Harry.
They pointed out that the Niscemi landslide closely resembles a similar event that occurred in 1997, arguing that decades were lost without effective preventive action. The government has since announced an administrative inquiry into why earlier warnings did not result in measures to reduce the risk.
Long-standing geological concerns
Sunday’s landslide left dozens of homes dangerously close to a cliff edge, forcing the evacuation of around 1,500 residents. Local authorities also closed the town’s elementary school as a precaution.
Civil Protection Department chief Fabio Ciciliano said the hill on which Niscemi stands is slowly sliding towards the plain leading to the city of Gela, confirming long-standing geological concerns.
Musumeci said he would propose an inquiry at a cabinet meeting into why no action followed the 1997 landslide and why construction was allowed to continue in vulnerable zones. He referred to possible “omissions and carelessness” by past administrations.
The government has said mortgage payments for affected families will be suspended and that financial support for local businesses is under consideration.
The landslide followed days of severe weather caused by Cyclone Harry, which struck Sicily, Calabria and Sardinia. Sicily alone has suffered more than two billion euros in damage, regional governor Renato Schifani said, as Meloni visited the island to assess the impact.
European Commission Vice President Raffaele Fitto said Brussels was committed to providing swift and concrete support to the affected regions. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini rejected calls to divert funding from the planned Strait of Messina bridge, insisting emergency aid would be found without halting major infrastructure projects.
