What next, Bunga Bunga Airlines?
A decision by the Italian government to rename Milan’s main airport after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has prompted an outcry in Italy.
A petition launched by the left-wing Young Democrats of Lombardy group asking authorities to reconsider reached more than 16,000 signatures Monday, as opposition figures denounced the government’s initiative.
Berlusconi, a controversial and colorful former leader of Italy who died last year, is proving capable of tormenting his enemies even from the grave.
The storm started Friday after Transport Minister Matteo Salvini announced during a conference in the south of Italy that the ENAC national civil aviation authority had approved a request by the region of Lombardy to rename Malpensa Airport in honor of Berlusconi.
“The final decision lies with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, and I am ready to put the last signature, with pride and emotion,” Salvini wrote later on X. “In the memory of my friend Silvio, a great entrepreneur, a great Milanese and a great Italian. Always with us.”
Salvini’s announcement sparked a backlash from opposition parties and groups who are against naming one of Italy’s most important international hubs after such a contentious figure. Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud, and was embroiled in numerous legal controversies and sex scandals over the years.
“In Italy we have gone from naming airports after [1980-1990s anti-mafia magistrates Giovanni] Falcone and [Paolo] Borsellino to Berlusconi, from someone who fought the mafia to someone who for years has embarrassed Italy in the world,” the leader of the 5Star Movement in Lombardy, Nicola Di Marco, wrote in a post on Facebook. He argued that naming the airport after Berlusconi is “a sign of the total decay of Italian institutions.”
“Why the airport? In my opinion, it doesn’t do it justice. Why not dedicate him a massage center with a happy ending?” Greta Cogotti, vice president of the city council of Biella — located 70 kilometers from the airport — and a member of the opposition Democratic Party, wrote in a post on Facebook.
The Young Democrats petition, launched on Sunday, argued that the airport deserves a name “that embodies values of honesty, integrity and service to the community,” adding that “Berlusconi does not reflect those values, as demonstrated by the numerous criminal convictions he has received over the years.”
“We do not want it to stay just a petition, but also to tell the story of a generation who no longer wants to support the glorification of politics and of a person that had been sentenced for fraud, had been under investigation for child prostitutions and corruption,” said Tiziana Elli, the group’s manager.
Berlusconi, who died in June last year aged 86, led four governments at the helm of his center-right Forza Italia party, and was one of Italy’s most divisive figures of the modern era.
His party colleagues and supporters praised him for his entrepreneurial skills, his charisma and his contributions to Italy’s economic and political landscape, while his critics accuse him of using politics to enrich himself.
Why not a sex den instead? Berlusconi airport sparks uproar in Italy
Source: Viral Showbiz Pinay
0 Comments