Former Italian PM Matteo Renzi in the eye of the storm for receiving payments from Saudi Arabia

The controversy around the links between Matteo Renzi and Saudi Arabia is growing in Italy, after US intelligence released report exposing crown prince’s responsibility Mohammed bin salman in the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The scandal erupted a month ago, in the middle of the political crisis that Renzi himself provoked and concluded with the replacement of Giuseppe Conte for Mario draghi. On the night of January 25 to 26, after the announcement of Conte’s resignation, the senator and former Italian Prime Minister, leader of the small centrist party Italy Viva, flew to Riyadh on a whirlwind trip to participate in a conference organized by the FII Institute (Future Investment Initiative), a foundation created by the Saudi kingdom to improve its damaged image after the brutal murder of Khashoggi. In addition to traveling, this institute pays Renzi an annual membership fee of $ 80,000 to sit on its advisory committee.

Renzi, who after being Prime Minister became a rich lecturer with an annual income of over one million euros, He participated in this event alongside former politicians such as Britons David Cameron and Francois Fillon. However, the leader of Italia Viva was the only active politician and one of the most enthusiastic about celebrating the virtues of the Wahhabi kingdom: in a video that went viral, he congratulated his “friend” Bin Salman by calling him “the great crown prince “ and even went so far as to say that Saudi Arabia “could be the site of a new Renaissance”, in comparison with Florence, of which Renzi was mayor between 2009 and 2014. Renzi was also jealous of Saudi Arabia’s low “labor costs”, something which, according to Amnesty International, is the main cause of human rights violations in the country.

Amidst controversy and criticism, Renzi vowed he would clarify his ties to the Saudi kingdom at a press conference once the political crisis in Italy is over.. The pressure increased after the declassification of the IUS intelligence report on Khashoggi’s death who confirmed Bin Salman’s responsibility for the crime.

Finally, Renzi answered questions on Saturday in an unusual self-interview posted on his website in which he ensured that the payments received by Riyadh were legal and reported to the Treasury, defended Bin Salman’s reforms and claimed that the Saudi Arabia is “a bulwark against extremism “, despite the fact that the kingdom is considered one of the main donors of Islamic jihadism. In addition, he qualified the revelations of the American intelligence services of the death of Khashoggi, assassinated and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Turkey, of “bitter controversy”.

Renzi’s justifications did not convince several observers and parliamentarians, who they questioned the conflict of interest this would exist for an influential senator, member of the defense committee of the Italian Senate, financed by a foreign country. Some have urged Renzi to resign from his post in the Saudi foundation or, failing that, to quit his seat in the Italian parliament.

Let Renzi “clarify this is not only practical, but it is a matter of national interest”said the former minister Beppe Provenzano.

“It would be better to enact a rule prohibiting a representative based on receiving money directly or indirectly from a foreign government”, He said Carlo Calenda, former minister of the Renzi government.

Some media have recalled the case of the former German chancellor Gerhard Schoröder, separated from the Social Democratic Party when he began his professional relationship with the Russian gas giant Gazprom.

The scandal has also spread to social media, where resignation requests have become a trend under the hashtags #RenziDimettiti (Renzi Renuncia) and #ArabiaViva, alluding to the Italia Viva party.

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