She also criticised the decision by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government to declare a day of national mourning for Berlusconi on Wednesday, when his state funeral was held at Milan Cathedral.
Schlein attended the funeral but ex-prime minister Giuseppe Conte, the leader of the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the second-biggest opposition group, did not.
“I never met Berlusconi in person,” Schlein, who was elected as PD’s first woman leader in February, told SkyTg24.
“My political engagement started in opposition to Berlusconi-ism.
“Today at the (PD headquarters in Rome’s Via) Nazareno I am at the helm of the PD community.
“We were respectful at the funeral.
“But we are not participating in the beatification of Berlusconi.
“We remember the laws designed to meet personal needs, the conflicts of interest.
“We remember the commercialisation of everything.
“We found it inopportune to call for three days of national mourning (from the day he died to the funeral).
“It is natural for this treatment to be reserved to people who united the Republic, a characteristic that does not match Berlusconi the politician.”
ANSA
