With a gun at a New Year’s Eve party
Meloni faction excludes MPs after shooting
January 9, 2024, 7:22 p.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
A shot goes off from a gun during a celebration. The owner is Emanuele Pozzolo, a member of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s party. A party guest is injured. Pozzolo swears he didn’t shoot. The Fratelli d’Italia nevertheless throw him out of their faction.
In the affair surrounding a pistol shot during a New Year’s Eve celebration, a politician from the ultra-right ruling party of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been temporarily excluded from the parliamentary group. As several Italian media reported, MP Emanuele Pozzolo’s membership in the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) group of MPs has been suspended by the group leadership.
The 38-year-old has previously sat for the Meloni party in the Chamber of Deputies, the larger of the two chambers of parliament. Pozzolo had attended a New Year’s Eve party where another guest was injured by a shot from a gun he owned.
The incident has since caused great excitement in Italy. To this day it is unclear how the shot was fired. According to initial findings, Pozzolo is said to have shown his weapon – a mini revolver – to the guests. Then the shot was fired, injuring the other party guest in the leg.
Meloni wants to suspend Pozzolo
The injured man told the newspaper La Stampa that Pozzolo had the gun in his hand shortly before the shot. The revolver did not fall to the ground, which could have caused a shot to be fired. The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating Pozzolo for serious bodily harm. The deputy continues to deny firing the shot.
Because of the scandal, Meloni himself is also under pressure. The opposition demanded consequences for Pozzolo. The head of government had already announced that she wanted to suspend the MP. She spoke of irresponsible behavior. Meloni has been at the head of a coalition of three right-wing parties for more than a year. The alliance has a clear majority in parliament.