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POLITICS

Italy’s Berlusconi combative after hospital stays

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said Sunday that he was doing better after repeated hospital stays in recent months and would remain active in politics.

Italy's Berlusconi combative after hospital stays
Former Italian PM Berlusconi. Photo: Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP

“Fortunately I’m doing better, but the doctors won’t let me take part in public events yet. Nevertheless, I promise to be with you soon,” the 84-year-old told a meeting of his Forza Italia party by phone, according to media reports.

Berlusconi’s four hospital stays this year – most recently in May – were prompted by complications from his coronavirus infection in 2020.

He spent several days in a Monaco hospital in January for a heart arrythmia, while in September he was treated for a lung infection linked to Covid-19.

But the billionaire media mogul insisted that “we are still moved by the love and civic passion for our country that we brought into politics 27 years ago, and with which we still look to the future”.

“I’m still in the game.. you know me, I’ve never let myself be discouraged by any kind of obstacle,” he added.

Berlusconi offered a slew of political proposals, including a merger between Forza Italia, the League led by Matteo Salvini and the Brothers of Italy (FDI) led by Giorgia Meloni into a single right-wing force at the next parliamentary elections.

While some observers have seen his grip on the party slackening given his age and health problems, he said that “whatever Forza Italia’s decision, it’s me that will take it in concert with our leadership”.

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POLITICS

Florence elects first woman mayor after runoff elections

The Italian city of Florence, a leftist bastion, on Monday elected its first woman mayor as Sara Funaro easily defeated the right-wing ex-director of the prestigious Uffizi Galleries.

Florence elects first woman mayor after runoff elections

Funaro, a local councillor with the centre-left Democratic Party, won 60 percent of the vote in a second round run-off against German-born art historian Eike Schmidt, official results showed.

Schmidt, a political novice known for his successful revamp of the Uffizi Galleries during eight years as director, was backed by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government.

If elected, he would have been the first right-wing politician to lead the historically liberal city. But it was not to be.

Funaro, 48, has been a city counsellor since 2014 in the administration of outgoing mayor Dario Nardella, charged with welfare, health care, immigration and teaching.

A psychologist by training, she dedicated her victory to her grandfather Piero Bargellini, a venerable figure in Florence known as the “Flood Mayor” for directing emergency and recovery efforts during the catastrophic 1966 flood.

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