Italy president summons PM candidate amid scandal

ITALY’S president on Wednesday summoned Giuseppe Conte as he prepared to announce whether he will appoint the little-known lawyer to lead a government formed by far-right and anti-establishment groups.

Italian media said claims Conte had exaggerated his CV had delayed President Sergio Mattarella’s decision on whether to approve him as premier.

Media also reported there were worries over the choice of an anti-euro economy minister by the parties, whose combative stance towards Brussels has caused fears for European financial stability. But Mattarella’s office later said Conte was summoned to the presidential palace at 1530 GMT.

The anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the anti-immigrant League nominated Conte, 54, for premier on Monday. But scandal soon struck over doubts about his claims to have studied at certain top world universities.

“Conte betrayed by his CV,” ran a headline in left-leaning newspaper La Republicca.

“The CV affair is open, Conte is hanging in the balance,” said Il Corriere della Sera.

The parties are seeking to form a coalition government in a bid to end two months of political deadlock following March’s inconclusive general election.

Mattarella must agree to the parties’ candidate and ministerial team before they can seek approval for the new government in parliament.

Conte’s official CV says he “furthered his juridical studies” at Yale, New York University (NYU), Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, the Sorbonne and Cambridge, but some entries have been called into question.

NYU said that their records did not “reflect Giuseppe Conte having been at the University as a student or having an appointment as a faculty member”. It said he was granted permission to conduct research in the institution’s law library between 2008 and 2014.

Cambridge University declined to give details about Conte.

Duquesne University said he attended as part of an affiliation with Villa Nazareth, an exchange program, and did legal research but “was not enrolled as a student”.

Conte has yet to speak out publicly about the affair. Five Star has defended him as its choice to head a cabinet in which M5S leader Luigi Di Maio and League chief Matteo Salvini are tipped to hold key posts.

“Conte is and absolutely remains Five Star and the League’s prime ministerial candidate,” state news agency ANSA quoted Di Maio as saying on Wednesday.