NEW AGRO MINISTER SWORN IN DESPITE PRESIDENT'S RESERVATIONS
(ANSA) - Rome, March 23 - President Giorgio Napolitano swore in Francesco Saverio Romano as Italy's new agriculture minister Wednesday despite saying he had expressed reservations because Romano is under investigation for Mafia crimes.
The MP is being probed in Palermo over alleged Mafia association and corruption to assist the Mafia.
Napolitano said in a note the gravity of these crimes had prompted him to express reservations to the government about the appointment.
Romano has not been charged with a crime and the fact he is being probed does not necessarily mean he will be indicted.
He replaced Giancarlo Galan, who is the new culture minister following the resignation of Sandro Bondi, who had been heavily criticized after a series of collapses at the Pompeii archaeology site last year.
Romano is the first of a group of lawmakers who changed sides in recent months to support the government to have been rewarded with a cabinet post.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi survived a crunch confidence vote in December by just three votes by luring a few opposition MPs to the government ranks and has since bolstered his majority by winning over several others.
Berlusconi's majority in parliament was slashed last year when House speaker Gianfranco Fini split from the People of Freedom (PdL) party he had co-founded with the premier after months of wrangling and formed his own group.
Romano left centrist Catholic party UDC in September and is part of the self-styled ''responsible'' group of lawmakers who have defected from various opposition parties and are now supporting the government.
Sourced at Life in Italy.com by Daran Oswyn Jones
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