Opposition resigns en bloc from Italian RAI oversight commission, leaving public broadcaster without parliamentary supervision
The president of Italy's parliamentary commission overseeing public broadcaster RAI and all opposition members resigned on 2 July, accusing the right-wing majority of paralysing the body for nearly two years to force through a loyalist candidate for RAI's top job.
Resignation en bloc
On 2 July 2026, Barbara Floridia, the senator from the 5-Star Movement who chaired the bicameral Commission for the Supervision of RAI, handed her resignation to the speakers of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Every opposition commissioner, drawn from the Democratic Party, the 5-Star Movement, the Greens-Left Alliance and Italia Viva, followed suit. Floridia described the move in a Facebook post as "painful but necessary and inevitable."
Today I delivered my resignation as president of the Parliamentary Commission for the Supervision of Rai. It is a painful but necessary and inevitable decision. I had to acknowledge that staying and denouncing did not help.
Years of paralysis
The oversight body has been effectively frozen for almost two years. Opposition members say the majority systematically boycotted its sessions to prevent the election of a new RAI president, after the opposition refused to endorse the government's candidate, Simona Agnes. When the Agnes nomination appeared on the agenda, majority commissioners would absent themselves, denying a quorum. As a result RAI is still led by an acting president, Antonio Marano, a League-appointed board member. On 14 April 2026, President Sergio Mattarella warned that it was unacceptable for the national public broadcaster to lack its leadership after eighteen months.
- President Mattarella warns it is unacceptable that RAI still lacks its leadership after 18 months.
- President Floridia and all opposition commissioners resign.
Accusations against the government
Floridia attacked the ruling coalition for "arrogance and unscrupulous use of institutions." She wrote that the commission had been "held hostage" and that the boycott was "blackmail" aimed at forcing the opposition to accept the majority's preferred candidate. The resigning commissioners, in a letter quoted by Corriere della Sera, accused the government of a "political seizure" and said RAI had become "a pertinence of the majority, not a common good." Floridia also noted that Italy had not yet transposed the European Media Freedom Act, exposing the country to infringement proceedings.
RAI's editorial climate
Floridia called the situation inside the broadcaster "one of the most disheartening spectacles in the recent history of public service broadcasting." She alleged that promotions and editorial decisions were driven by political loyalty rather than merit, leading to an exodus of journalists and presenters. The opposition's joint letter cited declining audience figures, loss of credibility, the cancellation of programmes without explanation and the marginalisation of investigative journalism. The government has defended its prerogatives as legitimate.
Political reactions
M5S MEP Gaetano Pedullà expressed solidarity and called on the European Union to examine the rule of law in Italy. Opposition vice-president Maria Elena Boschi described the majority's behaviour as "unqualifiable." The mass resignation intensifies pressure on the parliamentary speakers and raises urgent questions about the governance of Italy's public-service broadcaster.
The right-wing majority boycotted the work of this commission for more than two years, trampling on the most elementary democratic rules defending pluralism and press freedom.
