Salvini told to stop wearing uniforms
It has become one of the trademarks of his six months in office, but Italy’s interior minister has been castigated for wearing police and firefighter uniforms to burnish his hard man image.
A union representing firefighters lodged an official complaint yesterday against Matteo Salvini, accusing him of improper appropriation of jackets, helmets and other gear normally worn by the forces of law and order.
Costantino Saporito, the national co-ordinator of the USB union, said that the minister could be fined up to €929 (NZ$1500) for wearing the uniforms because he was not a member of the police, firefighting service or the Carabinieri, Italy’s paramilitary police force.
He said Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister, should immediately stop his ‘‘improper use’’ of official uniforms.
The minister, who has courted controversy by closing Italy’s ports to migrants and refugees who are rescued in the Mediterranean by NGO ships, delights in mixing with police officers and firemen at official events.
Nicknamed ‘‘Il Capitano’’ by his followers, in October he posed with a military-grade sniper rifle at a police convention. He posts the images on social media, where he has accrued millions of followers. ‘‘The minister of selfies should take off those uniforms,’’ said Camillo D’Alessandro, an MP with the centre-Left Democratic Party. ‘‘It’s not just us saying it, but now the union representing firefighters. For months we’ve been denouncing the minister’s improper use of uniforms.’’
Salvini dismissed the criticism, saying he was proud to wear jackets and shirts representing the emergency services, especially when they were given to him as gifts.
‘‘I wear these presents with great pride to show my gratitude, and that of all Italians, for the work done by the forces of order.’’
– Telegraph Group