Andrea Delmastro becomes the first of two government officials to resign on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition reels from its first major electoral defeat.
Italian Justice Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro has resigned after it emerged he held a stake in a Rome restaurant co-owned by the daughter of a man convicted of ties to the Camorra, the Naples-based mafia organisation. His departure came on the same day as that of the Justice Ministry’s chief of staff, Giusi Bartolozzi, following the government’s defeat in a referendum on judicial reform — the first significant setback of Giorgia Meloni’s premiership.
Delmastro, a member of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, said he had sold his stake in the restaurant once he learned that his 18-year-old business partner’s father, Andrea Caroccia, had been linked to the Camorra. In a statement, he insisted he had done nothing wrong but acknowledged an error of judgment: “I have always fought crime and achieved concrete, important results. Although I did nothing wrong, I made an error of judgment, which I corrected as soon as I became aware of it. I take responsibility for that.”
His account was complicated, however, by the emergence of a 2023 photograph showing him alongside Caroccia himself — suggesting a closer acquaintance than he had implied. It also came to light that he had failed to declare his stake in the restaurant to parliament, adding to the reputational damage.
Furthermore, in 2024, Delmastro received an 8-month suspended sentence for revealing classified information about the jailed anarchist Alfredo Cospito.
Bartolozzi’s remarks effectively signed her resignation letter
Bartolozzi’s exit was triggered by different but equally damaging circumstances. The justice ministry chief of staff controversially urged voters to back the judicial reform so Italy could “get rid of” a judiciary she described as a “firing squad” — remarks widely seen as having undermined the government’s campaign rather than helping it.
The referendum, which sought to reform Italy’s judiciary, failed on Monday. The defeat marked the first major reverse for Meloni and her right-wing coalition since she came to power, and the twin resignations that followed appeared to be at least partly an exercise in political damage control.
In a brief statement accepting both departures, Meloni went further than many expected, using the moment to call on Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè to “make the same choice.” Santanchè was ordered to stand trial last year on false accounting charges related to a publishing group she formerly owned. She has resisted pressure to resign ever since, with Meloni’s backing.
From an outsider’s point of view, it is rather telling that it takes a big loss at the polls for Meloni to start clearing out her cabinet.
