All opposition members of the Rai parliamentary oversight committee have resigned, including the committee's chair, Barbara Floridia (M5s). The move involves members from the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, Avs and Italia Viva, and was formally communicated to the speakers of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, Lorenzo Fontana and Ignazio La Russa.

The resignations follow a prolonged deadlock in the committee's work, described by different sources as lasting roughly a year and a half to two years. Over the past 18 months the committee met only once, on March 25, to hear Rai's chief executive, Giampaolo Rossi. At the root of the stalemate is the unresolved appointment of Rai's chairperson, a position vacant since October 2024 that requires a two thirds majority in the committee. The governing majority put forward Simona Agnes, a board member linked to Forza Italia, a nomination the opposition has never ratified.

In recent weeks, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella addressed the situation, stating it was not acceptable that after a year and a half the public broadcaster still lacked its administrative bodies and that the oversight committee was unable to carry out its functions.

Announcing her resignation on social media, Floridia described the decision as painful but necessary and unavoidable, saying that remaining in place and speaking out had not been effective and that she wanted to send a strong signal. She added that with elections a year away, an active oversight committee was needed. According to some outlets, the senator also referred to what she called blackmail linked to the blocked chair nomination and mentioned the ongoing EU infringement procedure over the Media Freedom Act, in force for a year but not yet transposed by the Italian government.

In their letter to the speakers of the Chamber and Senate, the resigning committee members described the reasons as serious and structural, saying the committee had reached a point of no return. According to the signatories, an idea had taken hold that Rai belonged to the ruling majority rather than being a public asset, which in their view had emptied the very concept of oversight of meaning. The members also spoke of what they called a political capture of the body, attributing the paralysis to a decision by the majority on the chair's appointment that they say disregarded the regulatory framework.

The same letter listed further criticisms of the broadcaster's management, including declining viewership, the cancellation of some programs without explanation, the marginalization of investigative journalism, and editorial choices the signatories attribute to political loyalty rather than merit. The sale of Rai real estate was also mentioned. These are assessments expressed by the opposition committee members and have not been independently confirmed.

The resignations were described by outlets covering the story as an unprecedented move, coming just ahead of the presentation of the public broadcaster's programming lineup.