breaking latest news – “He marked an era”. It was “the watershed between the first and second Republics”. “For better or for worse, it is impossible not to recognize the imprint he has left on Italian political life”. It is the ‘fil rouge’ that binds the bipartisan comments of political and institutional leaders and personalities whose activity, in some way, has intersected with Berlusconi’s leadership.
The news of Silvio Berlusconi’s death went around the world and in Italy there is no political figure who does not entrust his personal memory to a note, a post on social media or a statement on TV. Flags at half-mast in the Senate and at Palazzo Chigi, the proceedings of the Chamber of Deputies cancelled, the various public and political commitments cancelled: the world of politics stops in homage to the leader who was the first to unite the centre-right. Berlusconi’s funeral will take place on Wednesday 14 – day of national mourning – in the Milan Cathedral, Archbishop Mario Delpini will preside. The former premier’s coffin is now in Villa San Martino, in Arcore, where he will receive greetings from his closest family and friends.
Mattarella: “Protagonist of long seasons”
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella – who will attend the state funeral in Milan on Wednesday – speaks of the “protagonist of long seasons of Italian politics and republican institutions. Berlusconi was a great political leader who marked the history of our Republic, influencing on paradigms, customs and languages”.
Berlusconi’s leadership “has contributed to shaping a new geography of Italian politics, allowing him to assume the office of Prime Minister four times”, recalls the Head of State
“In this capacity he has faced events of global significance”, and has “progressively integrated the political movement he founded into the European popular family, favoring continuity in the Atlantic and pro-European orientation of our Republic”. “He was a person endowed with great humanity and a successful entrepreneur, an innovator in his field”, is still the tribute paid by Mattarella.
Meloni: “He was a fighter”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chooses to entrust her moved greeting to the Knight to a video, shot in her studio at Palazzo Chigi: “Silvio Berlusconi was above all a fighter. He was a man who was never afraid to defend his convictions. And it was exactly that courage and that determination that made him one of the most influential men in the history of Italy that allowed him to make real breakthroughs in the world of politics, communication and the world of business“.
With Silvio Berlusconi “we have fought, won, lost many battles and for him too we will bring home the goals that we have set ourselves together. Goodbye Silvio”, concludes the Prime Minister.
La Russa: “An Italy before and after Berlusconi”
“One thing is certain, there is an Italy before and after Silvio Berlusconi. He changed Italian politics and beyond. He was a man who changed the relationship with the world, with people, with society”, are the words by the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa.
“An absolute protagonist of Italian, European and international economic, industrial and political history”, affirms the president of the Chamber Lorenzo Fontana. “A great Italian has decided to say goodbye to us”, says an excited Matteo Salvini, among the first to comment on the disappearance of the blue leader. Then, in telephone connection with Tg1, the deputy prime minister does not hide his deep emotion: “He will be missed… I heard him on Saturday evening after the Champions League final and at eleven in the evening he was working for the Europeans, for Forza Italia, for the government, for the centre-right… was never satisfied”.
Tributes and memories
And he observes: “Now it will be more difficult to get everyone to agree, to get everyone in tune, we will humbly try to carry on your work…”. It is an “immense pain”, she confides Antonio Tajani, “simply thanks president, thanks Silvio”. “We will miss him. Very much. We will miss his genius, his sympathy, his political intelligence, his energy, his humanity. I will personally miss his friendship,” she says. Maurizio Lupi. “An era of Italian history and of our lives is gone”, he writes Pier Ferdinando Casini.
Per l’ex premier Mario Draghi an “absolute protagonist of Italian public life of the last fifty years disappears. As an entrepreneur he revolutionized the world of communication and sport, with an extraordinary spirit of initiative and innovation. As a leader he transformed politics and was loved by millions of Italians for his humanity and his charisma”, he concludes.
“Thousands of words have been said by both of them about my political relationship with Silvio Berlusconi. In the hour of his painful passing, I wish to pay homage to him by remembering his great humanity”, are the first words of Gianfranco Fini.
“An era ends with the death of Silvio Berlusconi”, acknowledges the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein. “Everything has divided us and divides us from his political vision, but the respect that humanly owes to the one who was a protagonist in the history of our country remains,” he adds.
“Silvio Berlusconi made history in this country,” he writes Matthew Renzi on Facebook. “Many loved him, many hated him: everyone today must recognize that his impact on political but also economic, sporting and television life was unprecedented”, underlines the leader of Italia viva, of which the Knight has repeatedly recognized political ability.
“He fought against the disease to the end with incredible courage. May he rest in peace”, are the first words of Charles Calenda. “I am moved. For many years he was like a brother”, comments the founder of the League Umberto Bossi. “Silvio Berlusconi was an entrepreneur and a politician who contributed to writing significant pages of our history in every field in which he ventured. He sparked and polarized the public debate perhaps like no other, and also those who faced him as a political opponent he must recognize that he has never lacked courage, passion, tenacity”, is the tribute that the M5s leader pays him Joseph Conte.
“We have always been and will always be very far from his choices, his ideas, his vision of the country”, but “he has marked the politics of our country in the last 30 years”, explains the secretary of the Italian Left Nicola Fratoianni. “A person who deserves respect,” he says Achille Occhettoaccording to whom “beyond even the bitter political clash, our relationship has always been civil”, recalls the secretary of the Bolognina turnaround, who was the first to challenge the Cavaliere to the polls.
“For me it is a moment of intense, very strong pain, and of prayer. An extraordinary man is leaving, in business, in sport, in politics. A man to whom I have been deeply attached is leaving, a bond that has never failed”, he confesses the former dolphin Angelino Alfano. “Today a piece of history of this country ends”, observes the secretary of Piu’ Europa Riccardo Magi. “The contribution that Berlusconi has made to the building of a new system and to the creation, in Italy, of a right linked to the European democratic system is indisputable”, he explains Massimo D’Alema.