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POLITICS

Fury as Berlusconi says Rome mayor job ‘is not for mums’

Italy's gaffe-prone former premier Silvio Berlusconi has done it again - this time suggesting that being Rome Mayor is no job for a mother.

Fury as Berlusconi says Rome mayor job 'is not for mums'
Berlusconi said being mayor of Rome is no job for a mother. Photo: Wenjie Zhang/Andreas Solaro/Gianni Schicci/AFP

The comments came amid a spat between his Forza Italia party and the Northern League over who the two parties will endorse as the candidate to lead a centre-right coalition in the upcoming mayoral elections.

“It's clear to everybody that a mother can't do that job,” Berlusconi told Radio Anch'io on Monday, referring to the Northern League's favoured candidate, 39-year-old Giorgia Meloni, who recently announced she was pregnant.

His comments were met with a wave of criticism and prompted fierce debate on the subject of sexism in politics.

“When will they ask a male candidate to withdraw for not being telegenic enough, or because he needs to be a father?” asked Italy's Constitutional Reform Minister, Maria Elena Boschi.

Berlusconi's party is instead endorsing 56-year old Guido Bertolaso, currently head of Italy's Civil Protection unit.

Supporting his endorser's comments, Bertolaso also told LA7 TV on Monday that Meloni should “focus on being a mum” instead of running for mayor.

Meloni served as Youth Minister as part of Berlusconi's fourth government, and at the time was the youngest MP in Italy's history.

She now leads the nationalistic Brothers of Italy party.

Both Berlusconi and Bertolaso object to Meloni, not because they doubt her political prowess, but because she is pregnant.

“The city is in a terrible state,” Berlusconi said, referencing the mountainous problems that the next incumbent will have to deal with.

“Being mayor of Rome means spending 14 hours a day between travelling around the city and your office.”

The 79-year-old then went on to attack the Northern League for trying to force Meloni into the mayoral race.

“There are people who, due to political selfishness, are pushing her to do this at her own detriment,” he added.

But Meloni was quick to defend herself.

“I hope to be an excellent mother,” she was reported as saying in La Repubblica. “Like all the other women, who between a thousand challenges, manage to combine work and motherhood.”

As the storm blew up, Bertolaso spoke to Radio Anch'io to downplay his comments, saying he had made them “as a joke.”

“It's all a storm in a teacup. A mother would make an excellent mayor of Rome, but at the moment she [Meloni] is pregnant and needs to be protected and not stressed from morning to night.

“No one can accuse me of sexism – my record as a politician backs it up.”

Other political groups have already announced their nominees, and without a candidate the centre-right is losing ground in its campaign.

In February, the centre-left Democratic Party said 55-year-old former journalist Roberto Giachetti would stand as its candidate, while 38-year-old lawyer Virginia Raggi was put forward by the populist Five Star Movement.

An official date for the elections has not yet been set, but vote has been mooted for Sunday June 12th.
 

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TERRORISM

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy was to increase surveillance in busy areas ahead of the Easter holidays and following the bombing of a Moscow concert hall, ministers agreed on Monday.

Italy on maximum terror alert over Easter after Moscow attack

Italy’s national committee for public security, chaired by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, on Monday said anti-terrorism monitoring in Italy must be strengthened ahead of the Easter holidays, with more surveillance to be carried out at popular tourist spots and at “sensitive sites”.

The committee agreed on “the importance of continuing monitoring activity, including online, by police and intelligence forces for the identification of possible risk situations” in Italy, reported news agency Ansa.

The security meeting was convened following the terrorist attack in Moscow on Friday where armed men opened fire and set the building ablaze, killing at least 133 people.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had stressed to the public on Sunday that Italy faced “no concrete risk” and said the country’s security and law enforcement services were “always on the alert to prevent any attack.”

“During the Easter holidays you will need to be very careful. We will always do the utmost to ensure the safety of citizens and tourists,” Tajani said, speaking on national broadcaster Rai’s current affairs show Restart.

READ ALSO: Terror alerts: Should I be worried about travelling to Italy?

The fight against terrorism “has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine,” the minister continued.

“We support Ukraine” as an invaded country in which international law has been violated, he said, “but as the Italian government we have expressed our condemnation of the attack [in Moscow] and closeness to the families of the victims and the survivors”.

Cabinet Secretary Alfredo Mantovano said on the same programme that the main terrorist threat Italy faced at the moment was mainly from “lone wolves” and “not so much from organised groups.”

“I believe that a group like the one that acted in the Moscow attack, which must have been trained and had logistical support, would be intercepted sooner in Italy,” he said.

“The most worrying threat” in Italy was online recruitment, he said, noting that propaganda was closely monitored.

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