ROME – Giuseppe Conte, a civil law professor who’s been proposed as Italy’s next premier, is facing a media storm after the New York Times revealed that he had not attended New York University between 2008 and 2012, as stated in his 12-page resumé, officials confirm.

 Corriere della Sera indicates that Mr. Conte is now unlikely to be Prime Minister, with media speculating that Di Maio might be appointed to the position after all.

 Di Maio, leader of the populist Five Star Movement party, and Matteo Salvini, leader of the League party, had both agreed to take themselves out of contention to lead Italy, and had settled on Conte in an attempt to finally form a government.

 However, Mr. Conte, who is virtually an unknown candidate, has been called out by New York University, who say: “A person by this name does not show up in any of our records as either a student or faculty member.”

 Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, who has the power to accept or reject the choice for premier, has asked for more time to consider the nomination. The delay has caused Italian media to speculate that Mattarella might push for Di Maio again.

 As well as claiming that he “perfected and updates his studies” at NYU, Conte also states in his curriculum that he enhanced his legal studies at Cambridge University. Cambridge has refused to confirm or deny the claims straight away due to their confidentiality policy.

 The Five Star Movement released a statement on Tuesday defending the humiliated Conte: “Giuseppe Conte wrote with clarity that he perfected and updated his studies at New York University. But he did not cite courses or say he completed a master’s at the university.”

“Conte, like any scholar, has studied abroad, enriched his knowledge and perfected his legal English. For a professor of his standing, it would've been strange not to. He did it and rightly wrote it in his resumé, however, paradoxically this is now not ok and has even become a fault. It's the umpteenth confirmation that they [the press] are so afraid of this government of change.”

 "They don’t know what else to invent," Di Maio said, on his way to the Chamber on Tuesday afternoon.

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