Berlusconi booed at Italy unity event

Rumblings of discontent in both north and south serve as reminder of country’s fractious reality Silvio Berlusconi has been booed at a ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of Italy’s national unity. The public holiday saw joyful celebrations in cities such as Rome and Turin, but also further signs of how fractured the country still seems at times. Politicians in the wealthy north questioned whether workers and students should have been given the day off, while some in the south said they were tired of being regarded as second-class citizens. Berlusconi’s government declared a one-off national holiday to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the day Victor Emanuel II became the first king of a united Italy following centuries of rivalry among city-states and foreign occupation along the peninsula. Italians rarely hang out their nation’s red, white and green flag, except for sports events like the World Cup. But the holiday saw a sprinkling of flags draped from balconies, terraces and windows in the Italian capital. Children also waved tiny flags as Berlusconi, the Italian president Giorgio Napolitano and other VIPs attended ceremonies in Rome, including one at the Altar of the Homeland, known as the Wedding Cake, in Piazza Venezia. The monument was erected in 1911 to mark what was then the 50th anniversary of a united Italy. State TV and the Italian news agency ANSA said Berlusconi was greeted with catcalls on the Janiculum Hill, where monuments and a museum honour efforts by Giuseppe Garibaldi and other Italian heroes top forge a united nation. Berlusconi is due to stand trial in the coming weeks for allegedly paying an underage Moroccan teenager for sex and for using his position to try to cover up his relationship with her – charges he has consistently denied. His three-year-old government suffered the defection of a major ally last year , and his most important coalition partner is now the Northern League, which once advocated the north’s secession from Rome. Several Northern League politicians criticised the declaration of a public holiday and others said they would keep town halls in the region open in defiance. Some in the less developed south said their region was considered second-class by Rome. “The south doesn’t have a lot to celebrate,” said Arturo Iannaccone of the Noi Sud movement. “After 150 years we still have a two-speed Italy.” Italy Silvio Berlusconi Europe guardian.co.uk

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