The Italian Parliament has given this Friday the ‘green light’ to a new legislation against raves and illegal parties in the middle of a session strongly marked by controversy and tension between government and opposition.
The law, which was approved with 183 votes in favor and 116 against, was proposed by the Executive of the far-right Giorgia Meloni, arguing that these parties often involve drug dealing and endanger public safety.
After a tense session in Parliament, the President of the country, Sergio Mattarella, signed the law overnight, which establishes penalties of three to ten years’ imprisonment and fines of up to 10,000 euros.
The opposition, for its part, has not only criticized this measure, but has denounced that the Government has taken advantage of the occasion to include in the vote a package of measures related to the pandemic, in order to ensure its approval.
These new measures include that those doctors and health personnel who have refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 can return to their jobs, thus eliminating the prohibition imposed by the previous Executive for these cases.
Already in November Meloni issued a decree revoking the measure, but now with this step he has turned that decision into law, approved by Parliament.
The opposition has denounced this change of course as a wrong response by the Government, not only in favor of those who oppose the vaccine, but also as a wrong signal at a time when the international community is once again fearful of the advance of the coronavirus in China.
With this background, the opposition groups tried to block the approval of the bill, but the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, of the ultra-right-wing League, interrupted the interventions and organized an express vote.
Fontana has made use of the resource called ‘guillotine’, a procedure which limits the time of the debate in the chamber and allows, therefore, to advance quickly until the final vote. To date, this parliamentary maneuver had only been used on one occasion.
In the past, it has been used on only one occasion, in which the speaker of the chamber was subject to penalties ranging from financial fines to lengthy prison sentences.
The law was proposed by the Executive of the ultra-right-wing Giorgia Meloni, who argues that these meetings – often held in abandoned buildings and with thousands of attendees – sell drugs and endanger public safety.
After a tense session in the Italian Parliament, the President of the country, Sergio Mattarella, has already signed the law, which establishes penalties of three to ten years in prison and fines of up to 10,000 euros.
The opposition has strongly criticized the measure, not only because they consider that it violates the right of assembly, but also because they claim that the Executive has taken advantage of the legislation to include another package of measures, including some related to the pandemic.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
