“Here I am, here for you, in shirt and jacket after a month”. Silvio Berlusconi reappears on video for the first time since April 5, the day of his arrival in critical condition at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan due to severe pneumonia linked to the chronic leukemia he has been suffering from for some time. The occasion is the final day of the great convention organized by Forza Italia in Milan.
Dark blue suit and shirt, party pin pinned to his jacket, a tired face, his voice tired at times: in the video message shot in the ward where his hospitalization is still continuing, Berlusconi is shown sitting at a desk. On the table a glass of water, a sheet of paper with the outline of the intervention, the two books he wrote “L’Italia che ho in mente” and “Speeches for democracy”. In the background the flags of Italy and Europe and the poster of the two days in Milan with the logo of the party.
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The FI leader begins by recounting the hardest days of hospitalization, with “my Marta who watched over me”. “A few nights ago, here at the San Raffaele, I woke up with a question in my head: ‘What am I doing here?'”, says the former prime minister. “We are here because you have worked so hard, are you working hard to save our democracy and our freedom?”, the answer of the blue partner and deputy Fascina.
The speech continues with a long parenthesis dedicated to the story of the “entering the field” in 1994, to “save Italy” from the risk of “becoming a communist country”. There is also an attack on the left, which “for many is a fad”, or worse “a way to make a career”, while “we are not professionals in politics, we fight for our values”.
Berlusconi then turns to more current issues: “We are the essential and loyal pillar of this majority, we are the backbone of this government. This is why we are still in the field, to ensure that its decisions are truly correct, just, balanced” .
The former prime minister says he is proud of the results obtained by the executive in just a few months and indicates FI’s objectives: “Increase pensions, wages, salaries which have remained the same as 20 years ago” and “reduce the tax burden below 40%, while now it is 44%”. The relationship with the allies “is loyal and constructive” and “we will continue on this path”, assures Berlusconi, then turning his gaze to the European elections of 2024.
“Europe – he says – is our horizon of reference, only Europe can be a protagonist in the great global challenges, starting with the one posed by Chinese imperialism”. In closing, the eighty-six-year-old leader addresses ‘his’ people: “It is your affection and your embrace – he says – that has helped me the most to overcome a very dangerous pneumonia”. In recent weeks, “I’ve never stopped, I’ve worked on the new party organization”, he added. Forza Italia “is for us like a secular religion, the religion of freedom. We carry on like this, with conviction, with enthusiasm, with passion. No one will be able to defeat us, the Italians will consider us their lay saints. I will be with you, with the same enthusiasm and the same commitment as in 1994″, the final message, greeted by a standing ovation.
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The video message lasts a total of 21 minutes, an “effort that demonstrates his human greatness”, which “encourages all our cadres, militants, voters and is an indication that concerns the future” comments the coordinator “slightly moved” national of the party, Antonio Tajani, also the protagonist of a question and answer remotely with the secretary of the Pd Elly Schlein.
“Today there are two pieces of news, one is the coronation of King Charles, the other is the return of Berlusconi,” observes Senator Maurizio Gapsarri. Behind the party, in the meantime, a small ‘black’ incident takes place which, however, betrays the internal divisions. A group of militants removes a banner for Senator Licia Ronzulli from the wall, replacing it with one in support of Fascina: ‘Marta you are a leader’.
While almost simultaneously the former group leader in the Chamber, Alessandro Cattaneo, recently replaced in this role by Paolo Barelli, articulates from the stage: “We must build a scalable, open and contestable party, based on merit, all with Silvio as sole leader Berlusconi”.