A photo of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini hanging on a wall in the Italian ministry for economic development will be removed to “avoid controversy”, the outgoing minister has said.
The newly elected senate speaker, Ignazio La Russa, a Brothers of Italy co-founder who collects fascist memorabilia, criticised the move as an example of “cancel culture”.
The “disturbing fact” of the photo’s presence was revealed by the trade union, Cgil, following confirmation from public administration workers.
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of Brothers of Italy, a party with neofascist roots, is to become prime minister after leading a coalition that includes Matteo Salvini’s far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia to a decisive victory in elections on 25 September.
Giancarlo Giorgetti, the outgoing minister of economic development and deputy leader of the League, said the photo was part of an exhibition, called Italia Geniale (Brilliant Italy), marking this year’s 90th anniversary of the opening of Palazzo Piacentini, the ministry’s headquarters in Rome, and included photos of all the department’s past ministers. Mussolini was minister of corporations in 1932.
Giorgetti said a photo of Mussolini also hangs in the “gallery of prime ministers” at Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Italian prime minister.
“Nobody realised this,” he said of the Palazzo Chigi photo.
He said the photo in the economy ministry would be taken down. “If there’s a problem, we’ll remove it, to avoid controversy and exploitation.”
Speakers of both houses of parliament were elected last week as part of the first formal steps towards the formation of Meloni’s government.
Amid condemnation from Cgil and leftwing politicians over the photos, La Russa revealed that another one of Mussolini was displayed at the defence ministry. “I mean, must we do ‘cancel culture’ as well?” he said.
Meloni is expected to receive a mandate from President Sergio Mattarella to form a government by the end of this week. As long as there is support for the coalition’s cabinet list, the government will be sworn in early next week.
Relations between Meloni and the three-time former prime minister Berlusconi, 86, hit a rocky patch last week after she vetoed his demands over the cabinet, but the pair called a truce during a meeting on Monday.
Berlusconi said on Tuesday that Meloni had asked him to be her “adviser”, a role he accepted while reminding people that he was the one who founded the rightwing coalition.
