Meloni government names former League lawmaker Nuccio Altieri to head anti-corruption agency ANAC

Cabinet launches the nomination

On Thursday, 5 November, Italy's Council of Ministers approved the start of the procedure to appoint Trifone "Nuccio" Altieri as president of the National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC). He would replace Giuseppe Busia, whose mandate expired in September. The proposal, made by Public Administration Minister Paolo Zangrillo and put forward jointly with Justice Minister Carlo Nordio and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, also names four board members: Ivano Maccani, Eugenio Rubolino, Carmela Margherita Rodà and Maria Rosaria Maugeri. Busia stays in office until the appointment is formalised. Parliamentary committees must first give a mandatory opinion, after which the proposal returns to the Council of Ministers before a presidential decree makes the nomination final.

Opposition calls it a dangerous precedent

Opposition parties reacted on Friday, 6 November. Irene Tinagli, a Democratic Party MEP, said she had read the news with dismay and disbelief, and argued that no politician had ever before been put in charge of an authority that watches over politicians.

“This is an extremely serious development; never before has a politician been appointed to head an authority tasked with overseeing the actions of politicians.”

She added that Altieri is a League member close to Matteo Salvini, Deputy Premier, Transport Minister and League leader, whose ministry is among those the authority supervises. Tinagli also pointed to Elisabetta Pellegrini, named commissioner for the third pillar of the Piano Casa housing plan, whom she described as Salvini's right-hand figure at the transport ministry and said would hold broad powers to waive rules. Sandro Ruotolo, a member of the Democratic Party's national secretariat, called the choice a "political oxymoron" and recalled that the League had voted to scrap the abuse-of-office offence. Carlo Calenda, leader of Azione, wrote on X that the move went well beyond patronage and was shameful. M5S lawmakers Federico Cafiero De Raho and Ada Lopreiato said it was not the only case, pointing to League MP Giulio Centemero's seat on the commission of the CONSOB stock-market regulator.

Ruotolo focused on independence:

“Whoever oversees public tenders must be able to tell the government, without conditioning, that its choices are wrong.”

Meloni, asked about the row on Friday, said the government had made the decision because "it was within our remit to do so".

Altieri's record and eligibility questions

Altieri was born in Conversano, in the province of Bari, on 27 September 1975. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2014 on People of Freedom lists, passed through several parliamentary groups, joined the League in November 2017, and left parliament in March 2018. He later chaired Invimit Sgr, a company in which the Economy Ministry holds a stake, and has sat on the board of Leonardo since May 2023. A 2026 curriculum filed for a new Leonardo board also lists him as chairman of Fincantieri Infrastructure, a post shown as still current. Decree 150 of 2009 bars anyone who held elected office or party posts in the three years before appointment from leading the authority. Press reports say Altieri headed the League's defence department until a few months ago, which places compatibility at the centre of the criticism.

A long-running clash with the League

The League and ANAC have clashed for years. In 2023 Busia warned that direct awards below 150,000 euros for works carried a risk of favouritism, especially in small towns. According to Ruotolo, a League official then asked for Busia's resignation, and party spokesman Stefano Locatelli called the statements serious, unacceptable and misinformed. Ruotolo also said the Salvini-backed procurement code moved direct awards under 150,000 euros for works and under 140,000 euros for services and supplies into ordinary rules. ANAC had earlier raised procedural objections to the Strait of Messina Bridge, a flagship project of Salvini. Altieri's nomination is the latest episode in that dispute.