«Craxi marked history». One hundred in Hammamet- Corriere.it

“A man who has profoundly marked the political history of our country, claiming and defending its greatness and sovereignty”. 23 years after his disappearance, Bettino Craxi receives a tribute from Matteo Salvini that some will find surprising given the strong opposition reserved by the League to the socialist leader in life, when the noose was shown to the Mani Pulite suspects in Parliament. But the deputy premier’s homage is not isolated, because laudatory words also come from the group leader in the Senate, Massimiliano Romeo: «Bettino Craxi deserves a prominent place in the history of our country. Let’s remember the opponent but, above all, the man of great political depth who has always had the fate of Italy at heart».

For Silvio Berlusconi, on the other hand, the memory as well as for the old friend is for one a figure who “does not lose relevance” and who over time acquires the “profile of a great protagonist in the history of our country; the years of his exile should be remembered as a warning on the perverse effects of the political use of justice”. A hundred politicians paid homage to Craxi in person yesterday on their way to Hammamet. Among them, many center-right MPs, including FI group leaders Licia Ronzulli and Alessandro Cattaneo, pro-force deputies Maria Tripodi, Alessandro Battilocchio, and Northern League colleagues Nino Germanà and Anastasio Carrà.

For Renzian deputy Ettore Rosato it was the first time in Tunisia. “I come from one different story, from that of the DC and the popular, allies and opponents of the socialists. But one cannot fail to recognize the extraordinary contribution given to the country by that tradition and by Bettino Craxi. I felt it was right to come, even to break a wall of hypocrisy”. According to the president of Italia viva it is necessary to reflect on the Craxian affair to draw a lesson from it. “There have been many political careers built on justicialism, right and left, recounting an alleged moral superiority guaranteed by the candidacy of prosecutors or by the exhibition of nooses” (with a jab right at the League). For Rosato, who considers Craxi and Matteo Renzi “two reformists” with “protagonist characters”, it is time to mend a rift: “There are many who have recognized the forcing and distortions of those years, I hope that others who are too silent will do so . Today Italy but also Europe needs to form a passionate and prepared political class, which does not live on slogans and populism, capable of interpreting the future with foundations also anchored in the great popular and reformist traditions that built the Republic”.

Stefania Craxi would like to thank those who went to Hammamet: «Every time it is a thrill to see them in the small Christian cemetery at the foot of the Medina, alongside the many Tunisians present, who have never forgotten “monsieur le Président”».