The Italian leftist coalition is reportedly looking to give the Italian Communist Party (PCI) 400,000 euros to celebrate its 100th anniversary and make the day a national day across Italy.
The sum was revealed earlier this month as part of the proposed 2020 national budget and this week. The national-conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni has claimed the government also wants to make the anniversary a recognised national day, Il Giornale reports.
Meloni criticised the coalition of the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD), saying: “After proposing the incredible allocation of almost half a million euros to finance the PCI centenary, now PD and M5S also want to make it a national anniversary.”
“The birth of the Communist Party as the Unification of Italy! Here are the priorities of this Government,” she added.
Populist senator and leader of the League (Lega) party Matteo Salvini also slammed the proposal, stating: “They say that there is no money, and then they tax plastic, sugar, cigarette papers, but an amendment comes up that manages to allocate 400,000 euros to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the Italian Communist Party.”
“Do the anniversary with your money, not with the money of the Italians,” he added.
League senator Roberto Calderoli went even further, telling the colation to “wake up” and saying that Communism was dead.
The proposition would be just the latest far-left policy to be put forward by the ruling coalition, which has reversed key initiatives spearheaded by Salvini and the League in the previous Five Star/League coaltion government, including his policy to keep Italy’s ports closed to NGO migrant transport ships.
While the coalition continues to hang on to power, it remains vastly unpopular among Italian voters and cracks have begun to form, with three Five Star Movement senators defecting to the League last week.
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