Silvio Berlusconi at the Fi convention
Forza Italia, Berlusconi returns and never mentions Tajani
The return to the field of Silvio Berlusconi. After a month of hospitalization at the San Raffaele Hospital, for pneumonia caused by the leukemia from which he is suffering, the Knight reappeared on video to bring his greetings to the Milanese event organized by Forza Italia. The former premier is wearing a dark blue shirt and jacket, on which a Forza Italia pin is pinned. He is seated behind a desk, flanked by the emblem of the FI Milan convention and the flags of Italy and Europe. “Here I am, I’m here for you, wearing a shirt and jacket for the first time in over a month”, he begins, immediately welcomed by the applause of the audience of militants. After making a historical excursus of the famous “descent into the field” of 1994, Berlusconi addresses the issues of the present. “We are the essential and loyal pillar of this majority, we are the backbone of this government”, thunders the blue leader. And again: “In just a few months, the government has brought home important results, of which we are very proud. We will continue on this path, with a loyal and constructive relationship with our allies, to whom we are bound not only by a common program but a real and consolidated friendship”.
There is space, in the ex premier’s speech, also for a “reorganisation” of the party. Il Cavaliere says he “also worked last week on a reorganization of Forza Italia, ready to resume our battles for freedom with you” with “the same enthusiasm and commitment as in 1994”. Because “Forza Italia is for us like a secular religion, the ‘religion of freedom’ mentioned by Benedetto Croce, a religion of the heart and of the mind, a commitment to ourselves, to our children, to all Italians”. “You will see – he warns – the Italians will consider us their lay saints, the saints of their freedom and their well-being”.
A thought is also addressed to Europe, which “is iIn our reference horizon, only Europe can be a protagonist in the great global challenges, starting with the one posed by Chinese imperialism”. So we need to ensure that “Europe becomes a truly united continent, with voting rules different from the current ones. We must move from unanimity to qualified majority, which I have proposed could be the vote of 80/85% of the countries Europeans”. And “we must have a single military policy, with strong cooperation between the armed forces of all the European countries, with an increase in military expenditure and with an emergency corps of at least 300,000 men”. At the end of the speech, which lasted about twenty minutes, the militants present gave a standing ovation, with an incessant waving of the Forza Italia flags on the notes of Azzurra Libertà and the anthem of Forza Italia.
However, there is no room for Antonio Tajani. As the Press explains, “the Milan convention was supposed to legitimize the new structure of Forza Italia but Berlusconi never mentions the name in his speech” of the foreign minister, who is managing the party in the absence of the leader. Again in La Stampa, Clemente Mastella speaks. On Tajani: “I don’t know if he has that quid as a leader. First of all, we need to see if he will be recognized as such by his people and by public opinion. He doesn’t have Berlusconi’s charisma, but nobody has it, not even in the other parties” .
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