Top politician of the right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia (FdI – Brothers of Italy) and Mussolini worshiper Ignazio La Russa was elected president of the Italian Senate on Thursday. He assumes the second highest political office in the state, after the president. The 75-year-old career politician, whose middle name is Benito, is known for collecting memories of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from his home.
The co-founder of the Fratelli d’Italia party, which won the most seats in the September 25 general election, won the first round with 116 votes. Born in Sicily in 1947, La Russa can look back on a long political career. His father was a fascist party leader of a local branch in Sicily. The lawyer belonged to the youth organization of the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI) – the successor of the fascist party. After law school, he briefly worked as a lawyer, after which La Russa devoted himself entirely to politics. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1992.
Heavyweight in the Italian legal camp
Known for his fiery temper and strong Sicilian accent, La Russa has been a heavyweight in the Italian legal camp for decades. In 1995, he played a pivotal role in transforming the post-fascist MSI into Gianfranco Fini’s right-wing party Alleanza Nazionale. This formed an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing conservative Forza Italia party.
From 2008 to 2011, La Russa held the position of defense minister in a Berlusconi government. In 2012, he founded the Fratelli d’Italia party with right-wing foreign politician Giorgia Meloni, which emerged from the Alleanza Nazionale that Fini had dissolved. The party name is based on the first line of the Italian national anthem. During the last legislature, La Russa was vice president of the Senate from 2018 to 2022.
Italy’s strongest group in parliament
Led by the Meloni-La Russa duo, Fratelli d’Italia has grown from a minor opposition party to Italy’s largest group in the Italian parliament. In the 2018 parliamentary election, Italy’s brothers had won 4% of the vote. In the September 25 elections, the party’s votes increased sixfold. Party leader Meloni should be tasked with forming a government next week.
Considered a dazzling figure on the far right, La Russa has often made headlines. Two years ago, he proposed to allow the fascist salute “Saluto Romano” again and to abolish the national holiday for the victory over fascism on April 25 and replace it with a day of remembrance for the corona dead.
Excitement over Roman greeting at funeral
Last September, Romano, La Russa’s brother, caused a scandal. A video shows the Lombard regional politician extending his arm in the so-called Roman salute used in fascism at the funeral of a former right-wing extremist.
Romano La Russa, public security officer in Lombardy’s regional parliament, said it was not a fascist salute, but part of a standard military funeral ritual in honor of a deceased comrade.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
