Here is a short extract from Gianni Barbacetto, Peter Gomez and Marco Travaglio’s book entitled “Mani sporche” (Dirty Hands), which picks up the discussion left by “Mani Pulite” (Clean Hands):


“The Tangentopoli front, often with no further need for bribes, is a conflict of interests. In the old system, you had those who pay in order to be awarded certain tenders or favours, and those who take cash to ensure that this happens. Nowadays, thanks to what Di Pietro calls «the re-engineering of Tangentopoli», the two parties involved in the above transaction are, with increasing regularity, one and the same person, who is both controller and subordinate and does not even need to go out of his way to pay any bribes since he would, in any event, simply be transferring them to himself. And even when the controller is not also the subordinate, it is normally because one of the two is a relative, a friend, a silent partner or a proxy.
In this strange model, which has grown up in the shadow of the berlusconian one and was not only never eliminated, but indeed continued to grow, hundreds of conflicts of interest have arisen within the various public administrations, from Parliament through to local bodies, in semi governmental and municipal companies, in the national healthcare system, not to mention the banks and private companies.
In Parliament, the vast majority of the elected representatives don’t even bother to submit any declaration of assets as required by the extremely bland Frattini Law. Even the various Authorities, who should be the ones that dig up and penalise conflicts of interest, are themselves riddled with them. The case of Alfredo Meocci who moved over directly from Agcom (which oversees the TV stations) to the Management Board of Rai (previously subject to his presumed «vigilance») in 2005 is merely a symbol of a reality that has become as commonplace as it is hidden. Also in 2005, former Chairman of the parliamentary commission overseeing RAI, the honourable Ds Claudio Petruccioli, became Chairman of the very same Rai, without any loss of continuity, and to make matters worse, this happened after a visit to the private home of Silvio Berlusconi, then Prime Minister and proprietor of Mediaset, a company in direct competition with Rai. The «Espresso» edition of 6 April 2007 printed an enlightening exposé entitled «Who controls the controllers ».”