Italian police have identified and denounced a 27-year-old man who has issued death threats against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her six-year-old daughter, Ginevra. The author of the intimidation is being investigated for aggravated violence against the president of the Council of Ministers of the country.
It is about a Sicilian, currently unemployed, who promised to assassinate the politician and her daughter if she complied with his will to dismantle the citizenship income, a subsidy for the unemployed that has become a thorny issue of political debate in Italy. Meloni wanted to eradicate it completely, but after hearing the possible social effects that it would have on the labor market, in the end he has opted for a middle path.
While the subsidy will be maintained for those who cannot work, from January the 660,000 beneficiaries who can will receive it for a maximum of 8 months (instead of the current renewable 18 months) and from 2024 it will be completely eliminated. "Beware that a knife reaches you and your daughter's belly, take away the rent and I will murder your daughter for sure," read one of the messages.
This decision, taken within the framework of next year's general budgets, has generated a lot of tension, and Brothers of Italy, the party led by Meloni, has accused the 5 Star Movement (M5E) of fomenting a climate of hatred that they believe has encouraged these intimidations. The Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida – who is the premier's brother-in-law – has called for an end to this “dangerous climate of growing and constant hatred, because to belittle or underestimate it would mean contributing to brutality”.
All Italian political parties, including the opposition, have condemned the threats outright. Giuseppe Conte, leader of the grillini, has assured that "these gestures are execrable, it is necessary to be close to the institutions". "I know what it represents, when I was prime minister I received many threats, particularly during the health emergency", he pointed out. However, his party rejects the accusations of stoking hatred made by exponents of the government coalition.
