It is not a random date that presented in the bill. On March 18, 2020, Italy was in the midst of the lockdown, all closed at home to count the sick and especially the victims of the pandemic. But an event hit everyone’s heart: the parade of military trucks full of coffins that carried the corpses away from the cemetery of Bergamo, now collapsing, towards crematoriums in the surrounding regions. March 18 was the day on which the highest number of deaths occurred nationwide.
“In this House we have not always breathed the right awareness of the moment we are going through. Unfortunately I have to find that I find much more solemnity outside than in this room. And I am not saying this because of controversy, but because my heart is crying. I do not want to leave to my children a country where Parliament is imagined to be a place when it goes well empty, when it goes badly useless. While the wish is that this place lives up to our country every day, “said Maurizio Martina del Pd, speaker of the law, during his speech in plenary.
“March 18, 2020 will remain forever imprinted in our lives, will cross the boundaries of the time of memory. That day there, that night, when we witnessed the tragic procession of military wagons that escorted 65 coffin outside Bergamo to other cities, we united with the heart to the parents, the wives, the husbands, the children, the grandparents who have not been able to find consolation even in the last caress, in the last look. A pain too great not to be honored in this House, between these walls that tell us who we are, represent our history and our memory. Dear colleagues, all political forces have joined together in the bill which sees me first signatory with colleagues from the Forza Italia group and which I have presented little after the tragic night of Bergamo “. Said Giorgio Mulè, deputy and spokesman for the Forza Italia groups of the House and Senate, intervening in the declaration of vote in the House on the proposed law at his first signature.
The text approved in Montecitorio (and which will now pass to the Senate) provides that the Republic recognizes March 18 of each year as “National day in memory of all victims of the coronavirus epidemic”, in order to preserve and renew memory of all the people who died from this epidemic. On that day, a minute of silence dedicated to the victims of the epidemic must be observed in all public and private places. The State, regions, provinces and municipalities will be able to promote, also in coordination with the associations concerned, specific initiatives, public events, ceremonies, meetings and common moments of remembrance, favoring in particular the activities and initiatives aimed at young generations. Schools will do the same. Lastly, on that day, Rai will have the task of ensuring adequate space for issues related to the National Day, in the context of national and regional public television programming.
Only three abstained – The law passed with 418 votes in favor, no opposition but three abstentions. These three were the no-vax and ex M5s Sara Cunial, Renzo Tondo and Eugenio Sangregorio, all three of the Mixed Group. And the mayor of Codogno Francesco Passerini said about the three abstentions: “What do I think of the three deputies who abstained? They are speechless …”.
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