A centre-right local politician in
Rome has stirred a row by calling a centre-left rival
"attractive" during a council debate.
Marco Di Stefano, caucus leader for Silvio Berlusconi's Forza
Italia (FI) opposition party and the Union of the Centre (UdC),
told the council chair "I'm sorry, chairman, that you did not
intervene to interrupt the long dialogue between the executive
councellor and the attractive councillor Melito," referring to
37-year-old Roman-born ruling Democratic Party (PD) member
Antonella Melito.
Di Stefano, engaged in a debate on an urban planning issue,
intended to stress the councillor's alleged lack of interest in
his contribution to the discussion.
But his use of the term "attractive" spurred protests from his
fellow councillors, with one centre-left councillor, Paolo
Ciani, saying "let's pay compliments for intellectual and
political aptitude and not on physical attributes."
Di Stefano replied: "I understand that calling a woman
attractive is something embarrassing for many of you, I didn't
want to offend the council member for whom I have great respect
and whose amendments I praised. If some male colleague is
bothered by this praise for the physical appearance of the
colleague Melito I am sorry, perhaps you're not used to this and
I can understand that".
But his explanation did not stop the criticism of his words with
another PD member, Claudia Pappatà, saying "we're fed up with
people judging the physical appearance of women as well as the
rest and with having to enter this room feeling conditioned by
how we are dressed".
Centrist opposition member Flavia De Gregorio added: "We are
tired of being labelled for questions of physical appearance, I
fully support councillor Melito, and may there be no recurrence
because we are all united."
Another PD councillor, Mariano Angelucci, called on the chair to
take action when such "disgraceful episodes occur".
The PD caucus said it had not been the first time that Di
Stefano had aimed "vulgar and inappropriate" comments at his
fellow councillors, stressing that "it is really unacceptable
that someone should address a councillor in this way".
photo: Rome's PD Mayor Roberto Gualtieri
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