ROME - Mayor Giuseppe Restiani and seven of the ten municipal councillors (four majority and three opposition) have resigned after a political earthquake involving a sadomasochist themed party.

 The case broke out over the summer after it came to light that the city council had approved a private BDSM-themed party in the medieval castle of Varano. The party was cancelled at the last moment, but the political damage had already been done. According to Gazzetta di Parma, this was not the first time that this kind of party had been approved, with a similar event also happening five years earlier, which equally raised questions about what had been allowed.

 The resignations have meant that Mayor Restiani has lost his power in his second term as mayor. The prefect Antonio Lucio Garufi has appointed a commissioner, the deputy prefect Adriano Eustachio Coretti, who will lead the Municipality until the next elections.

 Restiani has said that “By feigning outrage over the re-run of an event that has already been held in the village without any consequences, a political part of my majority sought only an excuse to rid of me.”  

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