Italian officials expressed regret for a brawl in the country’s parliament, with violent scenes from Wednesday’s incident spreading widely as Italy began to host world leaders for the annual Group of Seven summit in Puglia.
“I have no words,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italy’s Sky TG24 news channel after Wednesday’s violence. “We need to set another example, not punches to resolve political problems.”
During the G-7 summit, which runs from Thursday through Saturday, Italy is welcoming leaders from the European Union and six other industrialized nations, including President Biden. There, leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine and other global issues.
Images from the brawl were splashed across the country’s newspaper front pages Thursday. The lawmakers had clashed over a bill that seeks to grant certain regions further autonomy. Opponents of the controversial proposal say it will further exacerbate the north-south divide in the country and bring more hardship to the impoverished south.
Footage taken moments before the brawl shows opposition party member Leonardo Donno attempting to give an Italian flag to Minister Roberto Calderoli. As Donno approaches, Calderoli rejects the tricolor flag and backs away. Within seconds, others in the lower chamber join the fray, shoving one another and throwing punches into the crowd.
Donno later told Italian news agency Adnkronos that he “got close” to Calderoli, in an attempt to hand him the flag and “nothing else.”
“Then, chaos ensued,” Donno said. “I didn’t just get kicked several times, I also received a very strong blow to my sternum, and I collapsed because I could no longer breathe.”
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Donno said the incident scared him and that he was treated by doctors in hospital.
Legislative brawls have a long history of playing out in parliaments around the world.
In Taiwan, lawmakers have thrown punches, chairs, eggs and water balloons during bouts of parliamentary violence. In 2020, legislators threw pig hearts, intestines and lungs through the air after the ruling party decided to allow imports of U.S. pork that contained the additive ractopamine.
Ukraine also has a long history of parliamentary brawling, with fights breaking out over personal matters, domestic issues and international matters. In 2017, Uganda’s parliament was taken off the air after a brawl broke out between lawmakers who hurled chairs at each other as they fought over President Yoweri Museveni’s efforts to extend his rule.
Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report.