The agriculture minister Mary Helen Woods spoke to the House where the replies have now begun before the vote on the vote motion of no confidence by the M5S which concerns you for the alleged conflict of interest in the case of Etruria Bank. “Were there any favoritisms? Was there a fast track towards my father and my family? If the answer were yes, I would be the first to resign. If my father is wrong he will pay. But a lot of falsehoods have been told: a political attack is underway against the government and my family." These are the key phrases uttered by Boschi who calmly but with great determination defended the work of the government and his personal one in the matter, replying point by point to the objections coming from the oppositions.
At the end of his speech, applause and standing ovations from the Democratic Party, frost from the M5s and the Italian Left who, together with the League, are preparing to vote in favor of the grillina motion. Reruns are underway but the tension between Lega and Forza Italia has not yet resolved: the latter intends to leave the room at the time of the vote but Salvini has threatened to break the alliance with Fi and FdI for the administrative Berlusconi will not vote against the government.
The minister went over point by point the stages of the story which led to the receivership and then the bailout of the 4 banks, including Etruria. “My father lost his job with the government decree of February 2015. Where is the favouritism? He was sanctioned by the Bank of Italy and paid a fine of 140 euros. Where is the fast track in this sanction?”.
“I have no problem saying I'm proud of my father and the government I belong to. Whoever made a mistake must pay, if my father is wrong he will pay but if he is wrong the talk shows on television do not judge him ”. About shares of Banca Etruria: “I owned 1557 and they were worth 1500 euros initially. After the decree, the value of the shares was zeroed; they are waste paper like all the other shareholders. My father owned 7550 shares, my mother about 2000, my brothers about 2300 and even these shares are now worth zero. And then again: " I find it suggestive to maintain that with 1.500 shares, out of a total of 69350 shareholders at the time, I was the owner of Banca Etruria. To say that the bank is owned by the Boschi family does not correspond to reality".
Banco Popolare's transformation after the government decree. “Neither I nor any family members have bought or sold any shares since I have been in government. The latest movements on the shares owned by me and my family - he underlined - date back to July 2013. I neither bought nor sold shares nor could I therefore make capital gains thanks to the February 2015 decree. Indeed, I had a loss of 929 which after the interventions on banks was reduced to 369 euro. Similarly, none of my family has sold shares: only the loss has been reduced to about 2.300 at the household level”.
Finally the institutions. “The government, with the February decree, has guaranteed 1 million account holders and 6.000 employees“. The family ties with the bank: after his father's departure, Boschi clarified that even his brother, who was employed by the bank, “resigned a year ago. The only link he has with Banca Etruria is that he married an employee and applied for a home loan, like many other young couples, under the same conditions as all the other employees”.
“Envy and backbiting don't scare me – concluded the minister – I feel affection and friendship from many colleagues and citizens who encourage me to go forward. I ask you to judge the reality of the facts. Who imagines attacking me to weaken the government, forget it. The government goes ahead and is appreciated because it brings about the change that Italy needs".
