| Claudio Scajola | |
| Office: | Mayor of Imperia |
| Term Start: | 27 June 2018 |
| Predecessor: | Carlo Capacci |
| Term Start2: | 10 April 1990 |
| Term End2: | 15 May 1995 |
| Predecessor2: | Giovanni Gramondo |
| Successor2: | Davide Berio |
| Term Start3: | 6 June 1982 |
| Term End3: | 4 April 1983 |
| Predecessor3: | Renato Pilade |
| Successor3: | Giovanni Barbagallo |
| Office4: | President of the province of Imperia |
| Term Start4: | 19 December 2021 |
| Predecessor4: | Domenico Abbo |
| Office5: | Minister of Productive Activities |
| Term Start5: | 8 May 2008 |
| Term End5: | 4 May 2010 |
| Primeminister5: | Silvio Berlusconi |
| Predecessor5: | Pier Luigi Bersani |
| Successor5: | Paolo Romani |
| Term Start6: | 23 April 2005 |
| Term End6: | 17 May 2006 |
| Primeminister6: | Silvio Berlusconi |
| Predecessor6: | Antonio Marzano |
| Successor6: | Pier Luigi Bersani |
| Office7: | Minister of the Interior |
| Term Start7: | 11 June 2001 |
| Term End7: | 3 July 2002 |
| Primeminister7: | Silvio Berlusconi |
| Predecessor7: | Enzo Bianco |
| Successor7: | Giuseppe Pisanu |
| Term Start8: | 9 May 1996 |
| Term End8: | 14 March 2013 |
| Constituency8: | Liguria |
| Birth Date: | 1948 1, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Imperia, Italy |
| Nationality: | Italian |
| Alma Mater: | University of Genoa |
| Party: | DC (1970s–1994) FI (1994–2009) PdL (2009–2013) FI (2013–2018) |
Claudio Scajola (pronounced as /it/; born 15 January 1948) is an Italian politician who is the mayor of Imperia since 2018 and the president of the province of Imperia since 2021.
Scajola was born in Imperia. A long-time member of Christian Democracy, he was mayor of Imperia during a short period in the 1980s and from 1990 to 1995, as his father and his brother had been. When Christian Democracy disbanded, he joined Forza Italia in 1995. He was then elected deputy in 1996 and was national coordinator of the party from 1996 to 2001 and again in 2003. He also led a faction named after him, the Scajoliani. He was the Italian Minister of the Interior from 2001 to 2002 and later the Italian Minister of Productive Activities in the third cabinet of Silvio Berlusconi. In this capacity, Scajola was a strong advocate for the Italian re-entry into commercial use of nuclear power for the generation of electricity.
Scajola has been nicknamed "SkyOla" because allegedly has been using Alitalia airplanes for private use. An air route was created from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport to Villanova d'Albenga International Airport, which he uses regularly for traveling from and to his parliamentary job; it is rarely used by other passengers.[1] This scandal was exposed in 2008 by the RAI television program AnnoZero.
In April 2010, Italian newspapers wrote that Scajola, back in July 2004, had used €1,100,000 in slush funds to buy a flat in Rome near the Colosseum. At least €900,000 of those funds where reportedly traced as coming from Diego Anemone, a real estate developer under accusation of public servants bribing.[2] [3] During a press conference, he defended himself saying that the house had been paid without his knowledge.[4] These justifications were not deemed sufficient by public opinion and Scajola resigned from office in May 2010.
At the 2018 Italian local elections, Scajola was elected mayor of Imperia, 23 years after his last mayoral experience.
On 8 May 2014, Scajola was arrested for aiding the escape of Amedeo Matacena, a former member of the Italian Parliament who was convicted of criminal involvement with the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta, and remained in police custody.[5]
In June 2002, Scajola told journalists in Cyprus that "Marco Biagi was only a jerk, only thinking about the renewal of his contract". Biagi was killed by terrorists in March 2002 and Scajola was the Italian Minister of the Interior. Scajola had to resign because of this sentence on 4 July 2002. Despite this, Berlusconi continued to support him.