Rome -- The Italian Vice president of the Chamber of Deputies and member of the Five Star Movement (M5S), Luigi di Maio, created widespread uproar amongst politicians and the public when he included ‘cancer patients’ in a list of lobbyists. 

 “I don’t have a problem when it comes to lobby groups. There’s oil company lobbies, environmentalist lobbies, lobbies of cancer sufferers and incinerator lobbies. The problem here is a political policy with no backbone… We have discussed the regulation of lobbies at length. I have been fighting, in parliament, for a regulation on lobbyists since 2014. The relationship between stakeholders and politics should be regulated by law,” Di Maio wrote in a facebook post.  

 Di Maio’s reference to cancer sufferers in his list of lobby groups did not go unnoticed. Reactions began to circulate straight after he published the post on the social media site, with an especially strong reaction from several members of the Democratic Party (PD). Senior member of the PD, Francesca Puglisi, wrote on twitter: “It just keeps getting worse and worse. Di Maio is now talking about cancer patients as lobbyers. Apologise.”

 Puglisi’s colleague Stefano Vaccari echoes her comment in another post on social media: “Inexcusable from Di Maio. Apologise straight away for accusing cancers patients of being a lobby.” Ernesto Carbone, secretary of the PD, reiterates the party’s disgust at Di Maio’s comment, calling his words “shameful” and “unworthy.” She said that her party has been left “amazed” that Di Maio spoke about “those who have been unfortunate enough to suffer from cancer” as “lobbyists,” and adds that she is even more surprised that “Di Maio was able to make such a comment when he had just met real lobbyists,” referring to the meeting which took place on Wednesday between M5S and lobbyists.

 Di Maio apologised for what he said, writing on social media: “I am sorry that because of my words, which have been artfully manipulated by the PD, the associations of cancer patients are now in vulgar political controversy… I apologise if my words were offensive.”

 Widespread anger has been expressed by the public on social media towards Di Maio’s comments about cancer sufferers, with several people pointing out that they came from a politician who sees himself fit to take on the role of Prime Minister.

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