ROME - Francesco Spano, the chief of staff to Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, has resigned. In his resignation letter, Spano wrote that his reason for resignation was that he felt he was the victim of "unpleasant personal attacks" that do not allow him to "maintain the serenity of thought necessary to fulfil his position."

 The resignation follows just a few days after Spano had been appointed to his chief of staff role. It is believed that Giuli and Spano were already close colleagues as Giuli had worked with Spano when he was the former president of the Maxxi and Spano was secretary general. In a preview to a report that will be released this Sunday, it believed that Spano hired Marco Carnabuci as one of his employees at the Maxxi. This has caused a stir as it has been revealed that the two had been married for a few months in a civil union.

 The Former president of the museum Giovanna Melandri has suggested that this witch-hunt of Spano is “yet another demonstration of the inability of this government to manage cultural policies in Italy with rigor, transparency and coherence.” Melandri went further to suggest that there may even be homophobic undertones which have forced Spano to resign: “What is going on is a horrible settlement of... homophobic rights.”

 Spano wrote in his resignation letter his thanks for Giuli: “In the exclusive interest of the Administration, therefore, I feel it is my duty to take a step back. This does not prevent me, obviously, from expressing my deep gratitude to you for the esteem and support you have shown me without hesitation." 

 Giuli replied with a similar letter uttering words of gratitude: “With great regret, after having rejected it several times, I receive and welcome the resignation of the head of Cabinet, Francesco Spano. To him goes my convinced solidarity for the barbaric climate of exhibition to which he is subjected in these hours. Last but not least, I reiterate to Francesco Spano my complete esteem and gratitude for the mirrored technical professionalism and for the human quality demonstrated in different contexts, including the Ministry of Culture." There is growing speculation that this latest ministry of culture scandal could even take down Giuli

 Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been quick to distance herself from this latest palaver. The Prime Minister has said that “I did not speak with Giuli either when he appointed Spano or when he resigned … I follow what comes out in the newspapers, when there was talk of the appointment of this person." Meloni adds that "there was also a controversy, from Federazione dei Liberali, they told me that there was nervousness for this appointment.”

 There is anticipation to see if the culture minister will follow suit and resign as the key report on Sunday comes ever closer to being released.

tjpw