The vice president of the Italian senate is facing calls to resign after he compared Italy's first black minister to an orang-utan.
Speaking on Saturday at a rally held by his party, the anti-immigration Northern League, Roberto Calderoli said that when he saw photos of Cecile Kyenge, Italy’s Congo-born minister for integration: "I cannot but think of the features of an orangutan, even if I am not saying she is one.”
His comments, which follow a series of racist insults aimed at Mrs Kyenge in Italy, were deemed by “unacceptable” and “beyond any limit” by Enrico Letta, Italian prime minister, while Guglielmo Epifani, he head of the Democratic Party, demanded Calderoli’s resignation.
Reacting to the outcry on Sunday, Mr Calderoli said he had merely made a “friendly joke”.
Mrs Kyenge, 48, an eye doctor who moved to Italy 30 years ago, responded: “Political debate must be based on content, and not based on insults.” Full story...
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Speaking on Saturday at a rally held by his party, the anti-immigration Northern League, Roberto Calderoli said that when he saw photos of Cecile Kyenge, Italy’s Congo-born minister for integration: "I cannot but think of the features of an orangutan, even if I am not saying she is one.”
His comments, which follow a series of racist insults aimed at Mrs Kyenge in Italy, were deemed by “unacceptable” and “beyond any limit” by Enrico Letta, Italian prime minister, while Guglielmo Epifani, he head of the Democratic Party, demanded Calderoli’s resignation.
Reacting to the outcry on Sunday, Mr Calderoli said he had merely made a “friendly joke”.
Mrs Kyenge, 48, an eye doctor who moved to Italy 30 years ago, responded: “Political debate must be based on content, and not based on insults.” Full story...
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