La Russa’s words are a coincidence. Schlein: “Unacceptable, disgusting. Meloni assumes responsibility for him”

“Apart from the responsibilities of the son, which it is up to the judiciary to clarify, it is disgusting to hear words from the second office of state that once again want to undermine the credibility of women who report sexual violence depending on how long it takes, or on the any intake of alcohol or drugs, as if this would automatically presume their consent”. Elly Schlein responds harshly to the words of Ignazio La Russa, who this morning had clumsily defended his son accused of rape, stating that “the girl’s story leaves doubts”. Serious and inadmissible sentences for the secretary of the Democratic Party according to which “the president of the Senate cannot make secondary victimization. It is for this type of word that many women do not denounce for fear of not being believed. The legitimization of prejudice is unacceptable by those with institutional positions sexist”.

A little later, from Palermo, Schlein herself returned to the case, addressing the premier directly: “I would like to know where Giorgia Meloni is and why she doesn’t come out of her silence by assuming her responsibilities. I would like to know what he thinks of a president of the Senate who endorses the idea that women who report later do not deserve to be believed”. Certainly Meloni said she was struck by the equally slippery words with which Beppe Grillo had commented on the similar case that he involved his son: “I must say the way in which Grillo minimized a serious issue, such as the story of the alleged sexual violence,” the Fdi leader said at the time.

The Pd secretary was not the only one in her party to stigmatize La Russa’s behaviour, who tried to extinguish the controversy by saying “sorry for being misunderstood”. Others such as the group leader in the Chamber Chiara Braga have defined the words of the president of the Senate as “unworthy”, while Senator Cecilia D’Elia underlined the possible effect of certain statements on the investigation: “There could be undue pressure on the work of the judiciary”. A chorus which was also joined by Debora Serrachiani and Alessandro Zan. The reaction of Angelo Bonelli of the Greens was also very harsh: “Our institutions have entered a phase of profound delegitimization due to profoundly disqualifying behaviour”, he wrote in a note in which he defines “unacceptable the drift that this country is taking with its institutional and government offices: this is not the Republic of the Brothers of Italy”.

In the meantime, the silence of the 5-star movement must be recorded, in the front row in asking for Santanchè’s resignation, but remained silent for now – at the time of writing it is 5 pm and the case has been mounting since this morning. No declarations also from the other majority forces. Instead, Giacomo Leonelli, of the national secretariat, spoke for Action, asking La Russa to leave the highest seat of Palazzo Madama: “He cannot continue to be president of the Senate. And let it be clear: the problem is not what he may have done or minus the son, but the presumption of replacing himself by virtue of the role to those responsible (‘I questioned him’) and the gratuitous defamation of the girl”. + Europa too which, through its secretary Riccardo Magi, underlines the inadequacy of certain utterances: “Given the role it plays, a dignified silence would have been better. This is instead an intolerable interference”