Milan and Lombardy remember Silvio Berlusconi: “Protagonist of politics even for Italians who didn’t think like him”

“Milan mourns Silvio Berlusconi. Every Italian has an opinion on him, matured over the long years of his entrepreneurial, sporting and political centrality. But this is the moment for condolences and respect. Of course we must acknowledge that we loved Milan very much “. AND’ Mayor Beppe SalaTogether to the governor Attilio Fontana it’s at Matthew Salvini, to open the long chain of condolences that comes from Milanese politics, both the one that supported him and the one that fought him on the front of ideas. Funerals in the Cathedral, for him, and the funeral home that will be set up in the next few hours in Arcore, even if the mayor Sala has also made Palazzo Marino available.

For Salvini, who canceled all his public appointments, “a great man and a great Italian, one of the greatest ever, in all fields, from all points of view, without equal, was missing. But above all today I lose a great friend “. A very personal tweet, that of the deputy prime minister and Northern League minister: “I am destroyed and I rarely cry, but today is one of those days. I keep the value of your friendship, your advice, your generosity, your respect as a precious gift, your genius, your rare and affectionate reproaches immediately followed by compliments and unique attentions. You have done so much for Italy and for the Italians, you leave a void that is difficult to fill, starting today we will dedicate all our efforts and all our commitment to continue the thousand roads that you first saw and traced. The greatest heritage you leave on this earth, which are your splendid family and your loved ones, will be worth a thousand more lives. Have a good trip, Silvio, my friend”.

“Silvio Berlusconi, a great Lombard, leaves us. A friend, an entrepreneur, but above all a man who has contributed significantly to the growth of our country”. Thus the president of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, after hearing the news of the death of Silvio Berlusconi. “He wrote indelible pages that will remain in the history of all of us. Winning in every stage of his life – adds Fontana – I will always carry in my heart that feeling of generosity and of being a normal person with anyone who deals with them. Unforgettable, then, looking beyond the institutional and political aspect, the years of our great Milan. The Lombardy Region will find a way to leave a mark that will remember him forever”. “A prayer for him – concludes the governor – we are close to his family” concludes the governor “.

The founder of Carroccio Umberto Bossi was also shocked by the news: “I am moved. For many years he was like a brother”. The same thought also came from the president of the Senate Ignazio La Russa: “I was a personal friend and for me he was a sort of older brother, even if he didn’t like me, because he considered me his age, despite having 16 years of more”. A long message also came from among the Lombard ministers Robert Calderoli: “First I mourned my father, then I mourned my mother, like everyone, having arrived at my age, I mourned some very dear friends, true affections, which I find it hard to even talk about. Today I mourn Silvio, a friend of many moments, of many years together, of many laughs and also of many difficult moments. Their respective illnesses, their respective mourning: many times I received his hug and he mine”.

Letizia Moratti, former mayor of Milan wanted by Berlusconi and who was Berlusconi’s minister of education, as well as president of Rai during one of his governments, entrusted a personal and political reflection to a note: “He was a brilliant innovator, a step ahead of everyone as an entrepreneur, an undisputed political leader, a great driver. But also a generous person with overwhelming sympathy”. And again: “I am convinced that time will do him justice and also the many detractors, who have forgiven him nothing in life, but this is the fate of the characters who mark their era, they will review their judgments”. Moratti recalled Berlusconi’s friendship with her husband Gianmarco and underlined her merits. “He changed the world of television, of sport with his successes in football with Milan and recently with Monza, and also that of political communication, inventing a party from nothing, when no one believed in it apart from him, capable of becoming for a long time the main Italian party: the house of the liberals, the people of the people, the socialists.With its charisma and contagious enthusiasm, capable of making easy and possible what to others seemed extremely difficult and practically impossible – he concluded -, marked an era and its passage in Italian politics and economy will remain”. The Lombard governor Attilio Fontana has called a press conference and has suspended most of the institutional activities of the Region scheduled for this morning.

Mariastella Gelmini, one of Silvio Berlusconi’s loyalists (like Moratti she was Minister of Education during one of his governments) who left Forza Italia a year ago to join Carlo Calenda as deputy secretary and spokesperson for Action, recalled him thus: “President Silvio Berlusconi he was a leading protagonist in the life of this country, a great innovator in whatever field he applied himself.From business to sport, from communication to politics: in every commitment he took on, he left the mark of his leadership, the fruit of an out of the ordinary personality and a natural charisma. His disappearance leaves a great void in the country. Now that his figure has been consigned to history, his merits and the love he nurtured for our country will be fully recognized. which led him to become an all-round man of the institutions.Even those who, like me, had reasons for political conflict and made different choices, can only remember his human and political qualities. My most sincere condolences go to the family and to the entire political community of Forza Italia”.

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Condolences also from those who opposed him, even harshly, on a political level. Pierfrancesco Majorino spoke on behalf of the Lombard Pd: “I wish to express my deepest condolences personally and from the PD group in the Lombardy Region and my and our utmost closeness to the family of Silvio Berlusconi and to the political community of Forza Italia”. “To the family, managers and activists of Forza Italia my condolences and all my closeness for this mourning. With the death of Silvio Berlusconi a protagonist of Italian political history disappears, in a field of values ​​totally distant from mine”, adds Silvia Roggiani, deputy and metropolitan secretary of the Milan Democratic Party.

“Silvio Berlusconi was a protagonist of our country’s politics and institutions. A great entrepreneur who wrote important pages of our history – he declared Alessandro Spada, President of Assolombarda -. Throughout his life, Berlusconi was a wise anticipator of the times, thanks to his vision, innovative spirit, charisma and great humanity that everyone has always recognized. Characteristics that also perfectly embody the DNA of the modern entrepreneur, who is always oriented towards guaranteeing the future of his businesses and of the many people who make them competitive over time. Silvio Berlusconi was an example in this too, in all the fields in which he worked: from construction to television, from publishing to football, up to politics. The whole community of Assolombarda gathers around his family in this moment of pain “.