Claudio Durigon, Secretary of State for the Economy and Finance of the Italian government and member of Matteo Salvini's League, has decided to resign after creating a controversy.
He wanted to give a public garden the name of a brother of Mussolini.
In an open letter quoted by the media, the 49-year-old admits to having made “mistakes” and says he is “ready to pay the price”.
"I am not a fascist and I never have been," he defends himself.
Controversy among all parties
For three weeks, this faithful among the faithful of Salvini, whose far-right party is part of the broad coalition led by Mario Draghi, had been the subject of calls for resignation. He had wanted to give to a park in Latina, a coastal town near Rome for which he is a deputy, the name of a brother of the Duce, Arnaldo Mussolini (1885-1931).
The controversy over whether to rename this park dedicated to Sicilian judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, murdered by the Mafia, to give it the name of Arnaldo Mussolini, had stirred up both left and right, and until in the League's own ranks.
The moderate fringe of the party did indeed take a dim view of this kind of thunderous ad flirting with fascism and undermining the efforts to demonize the party.
Matteo Salvini for his part split Thursday evening a tribute to Claudio Durigon, who "leaves his post for the love of Italy and the League".
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Resignation
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