ROME – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was seeking to contain Wednesday a mushrooming scandal over a parliamentary deputy from her far-right Brothers of Italy (FDI) party, Emanuele Pozzolo, who pulled out a hand gun during a drink-fuelled New Year’s Eve gathering and allegedly shot and wounded a police officer.

   Pozzolo has been formally placed under investigation following the incident but denies having fired the pistol that wounded a 31-year-old officer who was working as a bodyguard for a government under secretary, Andrea Delmastro. However Fatto Quotidiano newspaper quoted another police officer present at the party as saying it was certain that the MP had fired the shot.

 “We were all frightened, there were children present. Pozzolo arrived at the end of the evening, we were leaving – he was tipsy, he pulled out the pistol without anyone asking him and all of a sudden a shot went off.”

 The Corriere della Sera newspaper said the prime minister is incandescent over the affair that she sees as distracting the public from supposed achievements of her government. The incident fuelled criticism by the opposition of the FDI party's origins on the far right including links to right-wing terrorists and a culture of carrying personal weapon, political experts said.

  “Meloni is described as ‘more than angry. Furious,’” the Corriere said.

“Because what was supposed to be the valedictory of a year of govt with objectives achieved - from the tax cut to the good performance in Europe, with the NRRP instalments obtained, a manoeuvre passed without jolts - risks becoming a minefield -- Above all, because of the 'crazy' attitude of a Piedmontese deputy certainly not from the inner circle, but linked to it.”

 jp