This is the shocking moment a massive brawl broke out in the Italian parliament which led to an MP leaving in a wheelchair after being punched.
A fistfight has broken out over a controversial government proposal that opponents say will further impoverish the country’s poorest south.
An opposition politician was reportedly taken to hospital.
Video of Wednesday’s fight showed politicians converging on Leonardo Donno of the 5 Star Movement, who opposes the changes.
He tried to deliver an Italian flag to the Minister of Regional Affairs, Roberto Calderoli.
This is the shocking moment a massive brawl broke out in the Italian parliament which led to an MP leaving in a wheelchair after being punched.
Video of Wednesday’s fight showed politicians converging on Leonardo Donno of the 5 Star Movement, who was attempting to unfurl an Italian flag in front of Roberto Calderoli.
This caused other MPs to converge on Donno, who was pulled away from the other MP.
Calderoli, a Lega party political firebrand with roots in the north, drafted the controversial expansion of regional autonomy that would mainly benefit regions such as the Lega strongholds in Veneto and Lombardy. A dispute over the proposal is what led to the fight.
Calderoli, a Lega party political firebrand with roots in the north, drafted the controversial expansion of regional autonomy that would mainly benefit regions such as the Lega strongholds in Veneto and Lombardy.
Italian media reported that Donno was taken to hospital after receiving blows to the head and chest.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, interviewed on the Italian channel Sky TG24, expressed his disappointment at the scene in Parliament.
“I have no words,” he said. ‘We need to set another example, not blows to solve political problems. It’s not boasting, it’s not shouting, it’s ideas that have to be explained well to persuade voters.’
Donno later spoke to the media after leaving the hospital.
“I have the medical report with me,” he said. ‘They kicked me. A punch hit me directly in the sternum. Reading the medical report he said: ‘During the session he received a blow to the sternum, having difficulty breathing for a few seconds, without losing consciousness. Transferred to intensive care, vital parameters normal.’
Italian media reported that Donno was taken to hospital after receiving blows to the head and chest in the middle of the fight.
It was not clear from the footage (pictured) who was responsible for the hit, but Donno blamed another MP named Igor Iezzi.
He also recalled the fight and told reporters that it was another deputy named Igor Iezzi, from the Northern League party, who hit him.
“I took a punch from Deputy Iezzi, others tried it like Mollicone, Candiani,” Donno said.
‘Then many others arrived, the shop assistants… I collapsed, I felt pain in my chest and it was difficult to breathe. I was certainly scared but fortunately I’m fine now, they did an electrocardiogram and I’m fine.’
The 5 Star Movement called the fight a “brazen act” and said “immediate action” must be taken against Iezzi and other instigators.
“An act of violence never seen in a parliamentary chamber,” said Chiara Braga, deputy of the Democratic Party.
Iezzi defended himself by saying: ‘A punch? I tried to hit it but you can see in the video that I couldn’t. Donno tried to attack Minister Calderoli; If he had given her the flag, the employees would not have intervened.
‘I had my reaction, but you can see in the videos that Donno drops like a pear ten seconds after I walk away. There was no physical violence.
The 5 Star Movement called the fight a “brazen act” and said “immediate action” must be taken against Iezzi and other instigators.
The proposal that sparked the fight would give additional regions greater autonomy in specific functions, a move the opposition says will further widen the north-south divide in Italy.
Currently, five regions have autonomy, which partly reduces the tax revenue owed to the central government in Rome.
They extend from Trento-South Tyrol in the north, comprising the autonomous provinces of Trento and South Tyrol, to Sicily in the south.
The other three are Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeast, Aosta in the northwest and the island of Sardinia.