The Senate remembers Berlusconi, white roses on the bench and Ronzulli in tears. Tajani: “Fighter of politics”. The M5S remains silent

“Please observe a few seconds of silence in his memory.” Thus began the commemoration in the Senate of the leader of Forza Italia. Ignatius LaRussa is the first to speak. “Silvio Berlusconi it is no longer there or perhaps, in some way, there is more than before,” said the president of Palazzo Madama. “The lights far outweigh the shadows and leave room only for gratitude and regret for not having him by his side at a time when Italy would still need her advice”. A large bouquet of white roses was placed on the Cav’s bench.

Next to it is a moved one Licia Ronzulli: “Today I won’t speak off the cuff. I wouldn’t be capable of it because I am overwhelmed by pain and because President Berlusconi taught me that on solemn occasions one does not speak off the cuff, and this is a solemn occasion, in pain”, said the senator addressing the Chamber. Many government officials were also present, including vice premiers Antonio Tajani And Matthew Salvinito the ministers Matteo Piantedosi And Robert Calderoli. In the grandstand there is also Gianni Lettahistoric friend and collaborator of Berlusconi, representing the family.

All the groups have decided to intervene with the exception of the M5S: “This will certainly be the umpteenth beatification of a man who has folded everything to his own advantage and use, from justice, to information, from institutions, to women’s bodies”, the words of Alessandra Maiorino, deputy head of the pentastellata group The intervention of the senator of the Group for Autonomies was harsh Julia Unterberger: “We cannot remain silent about how Berlusconi has seriously damaged the image of the Italian woman,” she said. Matteo Salvini replies to the 5 stars: “I’m sorry that not everyone speaks in this hall but that’s the beauty of democracy”, he said during his speech. “He was a model to follow, envied and hopeful for many”. And again: “Berlusconi wanted peace and our duty as a government is to pursue the line that leads to peace”. Antonio Tajani recalled the former premier as a “political fighter who always respected all his opponents, always emphasizing that none of us had personal problems with those who did not think like him, but only different ideas”.

From the benches of the opposition, the first to speak was Matthew Renzi: “The left must recognize him as unique”. A left which – continued the senator – ” has thought too much of him in the last thirty years, thinking in some cases only of him”. And he concludes by giving two pieces of advice to the majority. first: “If you want to keep the memory of Berlusconi up, give him a big tax cut in the next maneuver”. The second: “Berlusconi chose the path of European popularism. This, I say to Salvini and Meloni, is a political point you should reflect on in view of 2024 “. On behalf of the Pd to intervene is the group leader Francesco Boccia, who spoke of the Cav’s disappearance as an event “that closes a great political cycle”. “It would be lunar – added the dem exponent – not to recognize a leading role in Italian political life, between ups and downs, between lights and shadows”.