"THE GOVERNMENT DID NOT DEFEND ME… I RESIGN”. A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS, THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE DE GIROLAMO LEAVES HER POST. COLDIRETTI: "5 AGRICULTURE MINISTERS IN 5 YEARS". IT IS A DECISIVE YEAR FOR CAP AND EXPO.

A dramatic turn of events for the Ministry of Agriculture - Minister De Girolamo has decided to resign. "I decided to resign to save my dignity, which is the most important thing I have and that I want to preserve at all costs. I have decided to leave the Ministry because my dignity is worth more than all of this and was offended by those who know that I have not done anything wrong and should have explained because first of all it was a moral duty and then a political one. I cannot stay in a Government that did not defend my integrity”, she said in a statement. The decision of the Minister, who has been in office for under a year, came as a result of controversy surrounding the investigation into the Local Health Authority, ASL, of Benevento.

None of her staff at the Ministry of Agriculture had been warned. In a press release, Coldiretti stated, “thanks– on behalf of the president, Roberto Moncalvo - Nunzia De Girolamo for the work you have done with passion and commitment as leader of the Ministry of Agriculture. The actual situation must be resolved as soon as possible, following this long period of uncertainty since the Ministry has changed five Ministers in five years”. “This year is crucial for the implementation the European Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform as well as the Expo”, concluded Moncalvo, “and Italian agriculture needs immediate access to a stable and credible institutional reference”.