ROME – A lengthy interrogation that lasted 8 hours (from 11am to 7pm) in which Giovanni Toti, governor of Liguria under house arrest on charges of corruption and forgery, answered the 180 questions posed to him by the public prosecutors. And after the silence in front of the investigating judge in the warrant interrogation, today Toti responded and also filed a 17-page memorandum with which he wanted to “explain the political and moral lines that, since I took on the honor of leading the Region Liguria, have always informed the activity pursued by the Regional Council with the sole perspective of serving the good and common interest of the Ligurian citizens and their institutions”, we read in the memory published by Repubblica. Memory, which, according to what we understand, was leaked onto the web while the governor was still signing the report in the Finance barracks. “In my political career I have always pursued the public interest which is the sole and ultimate aim of my action politics – writes Toti – this end is followed, as constantly claimed by the political program of the majority that supports me, not through opposition to the demands of private individuals, but rather through the conveyance of these towards the interest of the community and the territory, way in which the best essence of the public interest is achieved”. “I have never exceeded the specific competences of the bodies and offices in charge, I have never interfered in the free choices and decisions of the subjects involved, I have never put pressure on any subject, I have never served a particular interest to the detriment of the collective one”.
My intervention at a political/functional level has always been strictly limited to the authorization path traced by the offices in charge in each field, limited to asking for attention consistent with the needs of speed of the market, or of carrying out the works requested by the other administrative and Government (Porto, Mayor Bucci’s Commissioner structures) or to solicit, within the administrative and legislative processes, the diligence and attention of the Ligurian Municipalities in implementing the regional strategic plans. In all these cases, each of my interventions was exclusively aimed at achieving a primary public interest so much so as to be contained in legal provisions or in the strategic plans of the Region, as well as claimed as the realization of the electoral program rewarded by the citizens at the polls. As seen, my action has always been limited, when possible and in any case in compliance with the law, to soliciting analyzes and responses from the subjects involved within the scope and within the boundaries already traced by the administrative and authorization processes in place, examined and instructed by the competent offices.”In the pages I tried to represent and explain that my will has always been to exclusively serve the public good – Toti reiterates – As clearly emerges from the documents, in dealing with Aldo Spinelli, I was interested in the issues he raised in way often disconnected from the context and totally extraneous to the spirit of the conversation, through an intervention always dictated by the spirit of public utility and often even in conflict with the interests of Spinelli himself but in favor – in fact – of other operators”. The memoir continues: “Every donation of money was credited with traceable methods and accounted for. Likewise, all expenses incurred (both in support of my political activity as leader of the Toti List present in the Regional Council and in many municipal administrations, and to support Mayors, Lists and candidates connected and consistent with the political line of the Toti List, and for what concerns the initiatives of the Government Coalition) have been reported and publicized in terms of the law and beyond. The budgets and reports were (and still are) published on the websites of the political organizations supporting me. Every euro collected had a political destination: no contribution produced personal enrichment or benefit for me, others belonging to my party or private third parties. And precisely to dispel every minimum possible suspicion and guarantee maximum transparency and possibility of control, particular attention was paid to separating every economic aspect of my private life from any economic activity linked to politics, so much so that personal current accounts were also separated and used for political activity exclusively dedicated and “transparent” accounts, with crediting and spending tools tracked, traceable and always rigorously documented”.
