The ramifications of the Qatargate scandal
The Italian trade unionist Luca Visentini, involved in the corruption investigation in the European Parliament, was dismissed on Saturday from the position of secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the organization announced in a statement. An extraordinary world congress will be held as soon as possible to elect a new secretary general, the statement said. “The events of the last few months have brought considerable damage to the ITUC’s reputation. Important lessons were learned and “we are determined to protect the ITUC from any form of unjustified influence and even from any suspicion of influence”, commented Akiko Gono, the president of the organization. The ITUC, which brings together 338 unions from 168 countries and territories around the world, says it has “found no evidence that donations from Qatar or Morocco have influenced its policies or programs”. Luca Visentini had been arrested in December in the Belgian investigation regarding suspected bribery of some MEPs involving Qatar and Morocco, and was then released under certain conditions after two days of pre-trial detention. The 54-year-old Italian admitted at the end of December that he received in cash “a donation of less than 50,000 euros” from the NGO Fight Impunity, led by his compatriot Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former MEP, considered one of the main suspects in this case. However, Visentini assured that the donation was not related to any attempt at corruption or influence peddling for the benefit of Qatar but was intended to reimburse part of the costs generated by his campaign to take over the ITUC leadership.
He was elected in November to head the organization before being suspended from office on December 21 by the governing body of the ITUC. The ITUC announced on Saturday that it is considering adding to its statute some “possible amendments regarding the financing of electoral campaigns for leadership elections”. Three people are currently in pre-trial detention in Belgium, as part of the investigation opened by the Belgian judiciary regarding the suspicions of interference by Qatar and Morocco in the taking of positions in the European Parliament through cash payments through Pier Antonio Panzeri. During a first wave of arrests and searches carried out on December 9 in Brussels, investigators seized 1.5 million euros in cash in bags or suitcases. In the last three months, Qatar and Morocco have strongly denied that they were behind any act of corruption. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has finalized a 14-point plan aimed at tightening the rules MEPs will have to follow regarding declarations of assets, declarations of interests, and contacts with lobbyists in an attempt to restore trust in the wake of the scandal of corruption related to Qatar, in which current or former MEPs are involved. According to the new rules, MEPs will have to declare all meetings with interest groups. The plan also provides for a transition period during which former members of the European Parliament will not be able to carry out lobbying activities. The Belgian authorities indicted four people, including the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, the former vice president of the EP, and the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, on charges of receiving cash and gifts from Qatar to influence decision-making. Qatar rejected the accusations, as did Eva Kaili through her lawyer. Also, the European Parliament started the procedure to lift the immunity in the cases of social-democratic MEPs Marc Tarabella (Belgium) and Andrea Cozzolino (Italy).
By Paul Bumman
