Status: 10/14/2022 06:50 a.m
Statues of Mussolini in the living room, a Hitler salute in Parliament: this is Ignazio La Russa, the man whom Giorgia Meloni chose for the first personal details, Italy’s new second man in the state.
It’s been just four years since Ignazio La Russa opened the doors of his Milan apartment for a home story. The journalists of the “Corriere della Sera” were amazed when the politician led them into his living room. The now second highest representative in Italy proudly displayed a statue of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini there and declared: “Under the feet of the leader lies a red star. So there is also a communist symbol here. But I put it under his feet.”
“Duce” – translated: the leader -: a natural choice of words for La Russa. Next to the statue on the chest of drawers, La Russa then displayed a plaque with Mussolini’s likeness on the wall. Two of many fascist memorabilia in the apartment of the man who was elected President of the Senate with an absolute majority in the first ballot and thus formally the second highest office in the Italian state.
Provocation with fascist gestures
La Russa, whose middle name, like Mussolini, is Benito, has been a leader of the Italian right for decades. During this time, he often let sympathy for Mussolini shine through and liked to provoke with fascist symbols and gestures. Five years ago, for example, La Russa vigorously argued in parliament against a planned law that would make the so-called Roman salute, known as the Hitler salute in Germany, a criminal offense in Italy as well.
“The proposed law provides that not only distribution and so on and so on is prohibited,” La Russa said at the time. “But also a certain gesture. So in future be careful not to raise your arm over your shoulder.” And then he did exactly that at this point: he gave the Hitler salute in Parliament. During the corona pandemic, the now 75-year-old recommended the salute with an outstretched arm instead of a handshake because this would not transmit viruses. After the public outcry, La Russa deleted this tweet.
Opposition appalled by the personnel
Opposition politicians are appalled that Giorgia Meloni, after winning the election, is putting him in the position of President of the Senate. Democratic Party MP Alessandro Zan shakes his head at the staffing. “Ignazio La Russa, as President of the Senate, is a self-confessed fascist who sleeps between busts of Mussolini,” he said. “It’s certainly not a start that encourages Giorgia Melonis.”
Under Silvio Berlusconi, La Russa was defense minister. In recent years, the native Sicilian with the characteristically rough voice has become one of the most important confidants of the current election winner. Like the incoming prime minister, La Russa was a former member of the neo-fascist MSI.
Even in the right-wing alliance, not everyone is happy
In his inaugural speech as President of the Senate, he assured that he would now act impartially and defend the rights of both the majority and the opposition. Twice, however, La Russa also quoted his father. Under Mussolini he was chairman of the fascist party in his home town and later – like his son afterwards – a senator for the neo-fascist MSI. In his inaugural speech, La Russa presented his father as a role model for tolerance.
I started doing politics shortly after I was born. My father was involved in politics and, like me, was a lawyer. He had his ideas, which he never denied. In my home you breathed the air of freedom. No one was ever blamed for not following the right ideas that were dominant at home.
Many opposition senators follow La Russa’s first appearance as the second man in the state with at times petrified faces. Meloni, on the other hand, was pleased with the choice of what she called a “patriot”. Not everyone in their legal alliance saw it that way. Some senators from Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party refused to support La Russa in the election.