ITALY: Hunger striker Gaetano Ferrieri hopes to mobilise Italians to stage Iceland-inspired demonstrations to make the country's government collapse

Record ID: 1540082

  • Title: ITALY: Hunger striker Gaetano Ferrieri hopes to mobilise Italians to stage Iceland-inspired demonstrations to make the country's government collapse
  • Date: 5th August 2011
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (AUGUST 4, 2011) (REUTERS) PERMANENT DEMONSTRATION IN FRONT OF THE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT ACTIVISTS AT DEMONSTRATION TENT ITALIAN FLAG AND POSTER READING "SALARIES REDUCTION OF PARLIAMENTARY AND PUBLIC OFFICERS AT LEAST 50 PERCENT" OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT ACTIVISTS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ACTIVIST LUCIA GERMINI, SAYING "We are calling on our fellow citizens, those who are tired, the pensioners, the students, the unemployed, the 13 million people who are living in uncertain conditions, to come here and join us in the square to take the institutions into our hands and to put the citizens back above the institutions. They are stealing our future and the future of our children and our grandchildren." HUNGER STRIKER GAETANO FERRIERI WALKING THROUGH SQUARE OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT T-SHIRT WITH TEXT READING "HUNGER STRIKE STARTED JUNE 4, 2011" FERRIERI SIGN READING "DAY 62" (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) HUNGER STRIKER GAETANO FERRIERI SAYING "The idea is to manage and bring the people to preside over parliament, to completely eliminate this political class, the mafia, the free-masons, the caste that has ruined this society, making the weakest pay. Therefore, to get the bankers arrested, to get the corrupt politicians arrested and to put together a new set of reforms for Italy." POSTER WITH PICTURE OF ECONOMY MINISTER GIULIO TREMONTI AND AN ALLEGED AMOUNT OF MONEY HE EARNS PER MONTH POSTER COMPARING TREMONTI'S EARNINGS WITH THOSE OF AN AVERAGE WORKER AND PENSIONER / EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT VARIOUS OF FERRIERI TAKING VITAMIN SUPPLEMENTS ACTIVISTS AT TENT
  • Embargoed: 19th August 2011 22:18
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy, Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4T1SUI82Y8UJX2PJMQ238K4JI
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: As Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi continues his efforts to assure Italians and world markets his country stands united to overcome escalating market turmoil, one man is hoping his drastic measures will bring to light the shortcomings of the premier's politics.
    Venetian Gaetano Ferrieri has set up camp outside the Italian parliament in an attempt to mobilise people to bring down a political caste he believes is responsible for leading the country to ruin and bringing Italy to the edge of a Greek-style financial crisis.
    The activist has taken his protest one step further, embarking on a hunger strike in order to emphasize the desperate nature of the situation.
    Ferrieri, who survives on vitamin supplements, on Thursday (August 4) marked two months since the start of his hunger strike.
    His permanent stand outside the parliament in the central Rome seeks to attract those at the lower echelons of the society.
    "We are calling on our fellow citizens, those who are tired, the pensioners, the students, the unemployed, the 13 million people who are living in uncertain conditions, to come here and join us in the square to take the institutions into our hands and to put the citizens back above the institutions. They are stealing our future and the future of our children and our grandchildren," explained fellow activist Lucia Germini.
    According to Ferrieri, top-earning politicians and bankers are to blame for Italy's demise.
    The activist is calling for the removal of corrupted politicians in position of power, his inspiration, he said, the so-called "Kitchenware Revolution" in Iceland, in which a series of riots and demonstrations following the global financial crisis paved the way to the collapse of the government.
    "The idea is to manage and bring the people to preside over parliament, to completely eliminate this political class, the mafia, the free-masons, the caste that has ruined this society, making the weakest pay. Therefore, to get the bankers arrested, to get the corrupt politicians arrested and to put together a new set of reforms for Italy," Ferrieri said.
    Ferrieri said he is prepared to continue his hunger strike until things begin to change.
    While his approach may not win wide-spread support among the Italians, Ferrieri is touching on a popular sentiment among the majority of the population; the urgent need for change.
    Berlusconi on Thursday promised a comprehensive reform pact with unions and employers by September to stave off market turmoil which has threatened to drag Italy into a full-scale debt crisis.
    Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy has long been sheltered by a perception that its public finances were under control and its banking system solid but any Greek-style crisis would overwhelm existing bailout mechanisms.
    Open divisions between Berlusconi and Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti have made matters worse, particularly to investors outside Italy who have come to see Tremonti as the main anchor of Italian budget stability.
    The opposition has repeated its calls for Berlusconi to step down and make way either for elections or a so-called "technical government" of experts to steer Italy through the crisis.
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