Italy: Meloni Considers Inquiry Into Handling of Wuhan Virus Pandemic

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s party has moved to create a commission of inquiry into the prior government’s handling of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, with at least one opposition party also supporting an investigation.

Meloni’s party, the Brothers of Italy (FdI), are said to be working on the formation of a commission along with populist Matteo Salvini’s League (Lega), with the FdI formalizing a proposal for an inquiry earlier this week.

The bill introduced by Meloni’s party is said to be identical to another bill that did not pass last year, when the FdI were much weaker in the Italian legislature.

The inquiry will look to examine the prior government’s failures, which included a lack of preparedness as well as miscommunications between various institutions, Il Giornale reports.

According to the newspaper, the commission would take place over a maximum of 18 months and involve 20 senators and 20 members of the Chamber of Deputies.

So far, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of the Italian Viva party, has expressed interest in a possible commission, but he was hesitant for a member of his party to chair it.

“The Covid Inquiry Commission should be led by one of the Brothers of Italy, not by one of ours,” Renzi said. “I have every interest in having the Commission but if I have to be intellectually honest it is fairer that those who were in opposition [during the pandemic] lead it.”

Italy saw one of the most restrictive approaches to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic in Europe, particularly in the early months of 2020 when the country saw a surge in deaths and was placed into lockdown.

While lockdowns were eventually eased, Italy continued to have a restrictive approach after the vaccines for the coronavirus were rolled out, with vaccine passports becoming mandatory for everything from train and air travel to dining in restaurants and using public transit until the restrictions were lifted earlier this year along with the state of emergency that had been in place since 2020.

The pandemic was initially handled by the second government of former prime minister Giuseppe Conte, an alliance of the left-populist Five Star Movement (M5S) and the left-establishment Democrats (PD).

However, after Conte’s government fell last year, a so-called national unity government led by former prime minister and EU technocrat Mario Draghi governed the country for the remainder of the pandemic.

This government included every major party in Italy — except for Meloni’s Brothers of Italy.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.