The Mameli anthem might become the Italian national anthem. This is the aim of a new law proposed by Ignazio La Russa who deposited in the Lower Chamber (together with his colleagues Ivana Beccalossi, Paola Frassinetti, Jole Santelli and Maria Rosaria Rossi) the project in order to give a specific legislative “position” to the “Italians’ song”, written by Goffredo Mameli in 1846, music by Michele Novaro. The Italian anthem has been accompanying for tradition public ceremonies and it is also played to honour the President of the Republic and sometimes the Prime Minister, but it has never been recognized as the Italian National anthem. The Italian Parliament has already received eight bills to make a new law but nothing has yet happened.

La Russa’s initiative, together with his colleagues from the Pdl, aims at starting the ball rolling. But, next to patriotic reasons, there are also political ones, that La Russa has never hidden: to stop discussions caused by the Northern League’s attempt to replace the Mameli Anthem with Giuseppe Verdi’s Va’ Pensiero. “We want to eliminate –said the Defence Minister – contestations, doubts and fights. This bill will involve the whole parliament, because I do not want to give more work to the Government and the coalition. The behaviour of some members of the majority parties is not acceptable, that is why we have decided to do something about it. We decided to present an ordinary bill so that in the future, if the Anthem will have to be changed, we won’t need a constitutional law”.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute