There is a storm over the phrases of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, during yesterday’s Question time in the Chamber. In the question from the Northern League senator Giorgio Maria Bergesio, the Minister of the Brothers of Italy said: “Fortunately this year the drought has hit some areas of the South and Sicily in particular. And luckily the areas from which you come are much less so, but which produce an exceptionally high value of wine.”
Words that did not please the 5 Star Movement, the Democratic Party and also the independentists of Trinacria.
De Luca “Lollobrigida hold your tongue, your words about Sicily are unacceptable”
The M5S group leader at Ars Antonio De Luca underlines in relation to the minister’s words: “Will a few million euros arrive from Rome to deal with the terrible drought emergency? No wonder, the Meloni government of Sicily doesn’t care about anything at all and the shameful words of the Fratelli d’Italia minister Lollobrigida, Meloni’s brother-in-law, testify to this unequivocally.”
And he continues: “Hearing a minister of the Republic say that fortunately the drought has hit the South and Sicily in particular is shameful and unacceptable. It is yet another proof that as long as this executive is standing, there will be no hope for the South and I dare not imagine what would happen if they approved the differentiated autonomy so dear to the League and Meloni”.
De Luca concludes: “We expect a serious stance with their Roman friends from Schifani and the Sicilian colleagues of Fratelli d’Italia. Let them put away their party uniform for once and make themselves heard, possibly without their hats in their hands. And in Lollobrigida they tell them to stop the language instead of the trains.”
Di Paola “Shameful words against the South by Minister Lollobrigida”
The regional coordinator of the 5 Star Movement Nuccio Di Paola, regarding Minister Lollobrigida’s response to the League senator Giorgio Bergesio at the Question Time in the Senate, underlines: “Once again, Minister Lollobrigida does not miss an opportunity to hide his narrow-mindedness and racism towards of the South, as it is obvious that his party does. His response on the drought which ‘fortunately’, in the minister’s words, ‘hit the south’ is a clear demonstration that the Meloni government favors the northern regions and even enjoys it if the South is in difficulty. This is a very serious fact that all Sicilians must know. These are shameful words. I don’t understand how it is possible that Sicilians can vote for Northern League, the party that together with FDI makes up this government”
Safina “At this point he would do well to resign”
Even from the Democratic Party, scathing responses are coming calling for his resignation. The regional deputy of the Democratic Party, Dario Safina, comments on Minister Lollobrigida’s latest gaffe: “First the 20 million euro bribe to stem the water emergency in Sicily and now the impromptu statement by Minister Lollobrigida who considers it a ‘luck’ that the drought this year hit the South and not the areas of Northern Italy. Unheard of words pronounced by a Minister of the Republic, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty in this case, yesterday on live TV during question time. If this is the rationale that the center-right uses to govern our country, they would do well to resign and hand the mandate over to the voters.”
Safina continues: “The words of Meloni’s brother-in-law are nothing more than the plastic representation of the idea that the national government has of the South and of Sicily: a burden to bear from which however to draw votes as needed. Second class citizens to whom we can throw a bone every now and then to keep us quiet and quiet. For months in the Regional Assembly we have been denouncing the serious crisis that the Sicilian agricultural sector is going through, but the center-right remains deaf and silent. Only to then declare a state of emergency due to drought and allocate a ridiculous sum that won’t even be enough to repair the leaks in the water pipes.”
And finally: “Important structural interventions are needed to restore oxygen to a sector that is literally on its knees and which represents 7% of the Sicilian GDP. One-off bribes are not enough to try to calm things down. Dear minister, the minds of Sicilian farmers are more than ever in turmoil and you would do well to be ashamed of what you said yesterday in the Senate. And let me add that you don’t even need to apologize: the only useful thing you can do at this point is resign and make way for someone wiser and more enlightened than yourself. Someone who does not think of the South and Sicily as a burden for the country but as an added value, to be safeguarded and protected. Someone who knows the meaning of the role of Minister of the Italian Republic and what it entails.”
Trinacria independentists are also calling for his resignation
“Fortunately this year the drought has only affected some areas of the South and Sicily in particular. And luckily not that part of the country where she comes from (Piedmont) which is the engine of wine production.” These are the words pronounced in the Senate by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Lollobrigida, which have already generated an avalanche of controversy on the island.
Trinacria independence activists also responded with a video published on social media, calling for the Minister’s immediate resignation.
“After months of mobilizations and protests in Sicily which involved the entire agricultural sector to demand better conditions and protection, this is the response of the Italian government – says Anthony Graziano, spokesperson for the Movement -. The water crisis that has brought thousands of agricultural and livestock businesses to their knees has fortunately hit Sicily the most and not northern Italy. What the newspapers try to label as a gaffe, we are sure that it is part of a precise political thought that sees Sicily as a waste, and the north as productive”.
