Rome, Oct 23 (IANS/AKI): Upholding the rule of law and fighting corruption are essential if Italy's renewed economic growth is to flourish, President Sergio Mattarella has said.
"A new era is beginning in Italy," Mattarella told top office-bearers, lawmakers and business representatives on Thursday in Rome.
"We need to enter it with greater awareness of the resources we possess and with greater public spirit," he said.
"The rule of law and the fight against corruption are essential for Italy's new growth," he said.
Mattarella's appeal came the same day when a former junior transport minister and nine others were arrested amid a graft investigation into road building tenders at Italy's highway agency.
Rome's chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone said corruption in Italy "seems to be seen as an acceptable everyday thing". "This is a depressing situation," he said.