Thousands of people paid their last respects on Wednesday to Silvio Berlusconi, who died Monday at the age of 86 of leukemia, during a state funeral organized in the presence of the country’s senior politicians.

Overhung with white, red and green flowers, in the colors of the Italian flag, the coffin arrived at 1:00 p.m. GMT in front of the majestic cathedral, in the presence of thousands of people and under the songs of the supporters of AC Milan, club led for 31 years by the former head of government.

He then entered the church, to the applause of the assembly, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as well as many political dignitaries.

“When a man is a politician, he seeks to win. He has supporters and opponents. Some praise him, others do not support him”, summarized in his homily the Archbishop of Milan, Mgr Mario Delphini.

Serious faces, some in tears, the crowd of Berlusconi admirers gathered behind barriers separating them from the cathedral square followed the ceremony in silence on two giant screens. Under a blazing sun, many chanted “Silvio”, “Berlusconi president” or even “Thank you, you are the only one!”.

After the funeral, her five children from two unions came out and waved to the crowd who cheered as the hearse left.

“Silvio Berlusconi is my first and last political love. It’s a very sad day for Italy,” Luigi Vecchione, a 48-year-old textile company employee from Borgosesia, told AFP. Piedmont.

Also dressed in black, Lucia Diele, a 30-year-old municipal employee, had come from Altamura in Puglia, in the heel of the Italian boot.

“Silvio Berlusconi was the greatest politician in the history of Italy. He leaves a huge void that will be impossible to fill,” she said.

Gianfranco Diletta, 65, a retired manager and amateur photographer from Milan, instead presented himself as an opponent.

“I never voted for Berlusconi who embodied modern populism for Italy in the 90s and was a follower of an ultra-liberal economic policy with all-out privatization. And until the end he was the friend of Putin, it was a strategic mistake that jeopardized Italy’s national security,” he said.

In Milan, as everywhere in Italy, the flags were lowered to public buildings.

In addition to Mrs. Meloni and her two Deputy Prime Ministers, Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani – number two of her Forza Italia party -, the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella as well as the former head of government Mario Draghi were present. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein and former center-left government leader Matteo Renzi represented, among others, the left and center-left opposition.

The European Commission was represented by its Commissioner for the Economy, the Italian Paolo Gentiloni, former chief executive in Rome.

Among the few foreign dignitaries was the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Iraqi President, Abdel Latif Rashid and the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

This state funeral, provided for by protocol, was accompanied by a day of national mourning, a first for a former Prime Minister who was not, however, to the taste of all Italians.

“The state funeral is planned and it is right, but the national mourning for a divisive person like Silvio Berlusconi seems to me an inappropriate choice”, thus expressed Rosy Bindi, former left-wing minister in the Prodi II government. (2006-2008) on public radio.

Andrea Crisanti, senator of the Democratic Party (PD, center-left), also made known his opposition.

“He had no respect for the state when he evaded taxes,” he denounced, recalling the final conviction of the “Cavaliere” in 2013 in the tax evasion case concerning his Mediaset empire.

The journey of this eternal ghost, whose political death has been wrongly announced many times, merges with the Italian history of the last thirty years. He was also one of the richest men on the peninsula with a fortune estimated in early April by Forbes at 6.4 billion euros.

Loved or hated, this assumed lover of women much younger than him, including call girls, has been involved in a myriad of lawsuits related to controversial receptions.

His disappearance sparked reactions around the world: a “true friend” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, “a major figure in contemporary Italy” for his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, passing by the White House, the UN and the sports world.

According to Italian media, Silvio Berlusconi chose cremation, requesting the burial of his ashes in his luxurious home in Arcore, near Milan.

14/06/2023 17:24:43 –         Milan (AFP)  –         © 2023 AFP