In Italy, a fight in the hemicycle causes controversy

A fight broke out on Wednesday evening between an MP and a minister. Then other deputies joined the movement, provoking numerous reactions from the Italian political class.

“Parliament Wild West.” This is how the Italian press reports a fight that occurred on Wednesday, June 12, between deputies during a tense debate on the project to grant more autonomy to regions that wish it, supported by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni . The images, on the front pages of newspapers, on news channels and in this video relayed on X by the president of the 5 Star Movement (M5S), Giuseppe Conte, show a fight involving around twenty men in suits and ties.

In the middle of the debate in the hemicycle, Wednesday evening, the M5S deputy Leonardo Donno leaves his seat to approach the Minister of Regional Affairs and Autonomies, Roberto Calderoli, member of the League. Then he tries to hang an Italian flag around his neck, to denounce the undermining of the country’s unity. This gesture provokes the anger of the League deputies, who in turn descend into the hemicycle to take him to task and fight. In the fight, Leonardo Donno received blows and had to be evacuated in a wheelchair before being hospitalized.

The brawl provoked a torrent of reactions, with deputies from the League and Fratelli d’Italia, Giorgia Meloni’s party, accusing Leonardo Donno of having provoked the incident, even simulating his injuries, while others regretted the bad example given by elected officials.

The M5S denounced a “extremely serious and shameful attack” and demanded “serious and immediate measures”. “We are coming to violence from the benches of the Meloni majority (…) You will not pass. Shame”wrote its leader, Giuseppe Conte, on X. “The hemicycle is not a ring (…) We must show a completely different example, it is not punches that solve political problems”reacted Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on the Sky TG24 channel.

The scene is not completely new. In 2021, in the middle of the debate on the health pass, deputies from the Fratelli d’Italia party (far right) invaded the hemicycle and caused an interruption of the session.