Meloni blasts the 'violent ways' of the Left

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 25 - Premier Giorgia Meloni accused the opposition of adopting "violent" methods and defended her government's reforms, including the recently approved law bringing in 'differentiated autonomy'.
    A brawl broke out in the Lower House before the controversial measure, which will enable regions to request more power over how the tax revenues collected in their areas are spent, won final approval last week.
    "We are patriots who know which way to fly the flag," Meloni said on Facebook in a possible reference to opposition MPs holding up Italian flags during protests against the reforms.
    "We are working for all citizens to have the same rights.
    "One M5S (5-Star Movement) MP called for Loreto for me," she said, referring to the Milan square where Benito Mussolini was hung upside down after being killed by Partisans at the end of World War II.
    "And the Left makes blacklists lists. I think the violent ways of the Left are a desperate defence of the status quo, a defence of privilege that has protected the few, at the expense of the majority of Italians.
    "We have promised to change things. We will go ahead without being intimidated, always in the interest of the nation'".
    Opposition parties say differentiated autonomy will worsen Italy's north-south divide, by favouring wealthier regions in the north.
    It is one of several reforms that the opposition are fiercely contesting.
    Another, the government's move to introduce the direct election of the premier by the Italian people, completed its first passage through the Senate a week ago, having already gone through the House.
    Meloni says it will boost democracy and stability, but opposition parties say it could lead to an authoritarian drift.
    Most of the Italian opposition parties staged a rally in Rome last Tuesday to "defend national unity" in the face of these reforms and also to protest against alleged "violence and intimidation" by the ruling coalition after an M5S MP needed medical attention following the above-mentioned brawl.
    Eleven MPs were suspended over the ugly scenes, with League MP Igor Iezzi getting the longest ban, 15 days, for allegedly trying to land punches. (ANSA).