MILAN — Devotees of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi bid him farewell in Milan on Wednesday at a state funeral for the controversial billionaire, which closes a 30-year chapter within the nation’s historical past.
The coffin of the media mogul, adorned with white and pink roses, was pushed by means of the town from his villa in Arcore to the town’s Gothic Duomo, with mourners clapping and waving alongside the route.
It was then carried into the cathedral, escorted by a guard of honor, as his household walked behind.
Thousands of the tycoon’s supporters—together with a delegation from his Monza soccer membership—watched on large screens arrange within the sq., as Archbishop Mario Delpini led the ceremony for Berlusconi, who died Monday aged 86.
“When a man is a politician, then he tries to win. There are those who exalt him and those who cannot stand him,” Delpini mentioned in his homily.
“When a man is a protagonist, then he is always on stage. He has those who applaud him and those who detest him,” he mentioned.
“But in this moment of farewell and prayer, what can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? He was a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy,” he added.
Berlusconi, adored and loathed by Italians in equal measure, had been ailing for a number of years, although he remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia celebration, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition authorities.
‘Huge void’
Lucia Diele, 30, a Berlusconi fan from Puglia in Italy’s south, described the person who entered politics in 1994 and went on to be prime minister 3 times as “the greatest politician in the history of Italy.”
“He leaves a huge void that will be impossible to fill. Giorgia Meloni is a great prime minister, but no one will take Silvio’s place,” she mentioned exterior the cathedral.
Fellow supporter Luigi Vecchione, 48, mentioned Berlusconi was “my first and last political love. It’s a very sad day for Italy.”
Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Meloni and fellow coalition companion Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League, have been on the funeral, whereas the European Union was represented by its financial system commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was additionally current, together with Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid.
The longest-serving premier in Italy’s post-war historical past, and re-elected to the Senate final 12 months, Berlusconi was dogged by a number of authorized and intercourse scandals and famed for his controversial gaffes on the worldwide stage.
He counted President Vladimir Putin amongst his associates—however the Russian chief is topic to a global arrest warrant and couldn’t journey to Italy.
Amateur photographer Gianfranco Diletta, 65, mentioned he had come to “immortalize this mass phenomenon.”
“I never voted for Berlusconi, who embodied for Italy the modern populism of the 1990s… and was a friend of Putin’s to the end, a strategic error which put Italy’s national security in danger,” he mentioned.
Berlusconi is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend, Marta Fascina, with whom he held a faux marriage ceremony final 12 months and who was at his bedside as he succumbed to a uncommon sort of blood most cancers.
She was joined within the entrance pews by one among Berlusconi’s two ex-wives, and his 5 youngsters, a few of whom helped run his empire, just lately estimated to be value round $7 billion.
‘Extreme’
Flags have been lowered to half-mast on all public buildings from Monday in tribute to a pacesetter whose affect prolonged properly past politics, because of his in depth TV, newspaper and sporting pursuits.
Parliament was suspended for 3 days and the federal government declared a nationwide day of mourning for Wednesday—the primary time for an ex-prime minister.
The determination was criticized by Berlusconi’s detractors, who accused him of cronyism, corruption and pushing by means of legal guidelines to guard his personal pursuits.
Senator Andrea Crisanti mentioned he was “strongly against” such nationwide honors for “someone who had no respect for the state,” pointing to Berlusconi’s definitive conviction for tax fraud in 2013.
Rosy Bindi, former head of the Antimafia Commission, mentioned it was “inopportune” for “a person as divisive as Berlusconi”, and the Repubblica day by day mentioned the “institutional shutdown” was “extreme” and in contrast it to Britain’s protocol for Queen Elizabeth II’s dying.
Berlusconi constructed a pharaoh-inspired marble mausoleum at his villa in Arcore, close to Milan, to deal with his household and associates after they die.
His household deliberate to cremate his stays and place his ashes within the mausoleum, Italian media reported. — AFP
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
