Renzi gets ovation, opposition criticism

(ANSA) - Rome, September 16 - Lower House MPs from the governing centre-left Democratic Party (PD) gave PD Premier Matteo Renzi a standing ovation Tuesday after his 45-minute address in which he laid out his 1,000-day reform program and his vision of what it will do for Italy.
    On the center-right opposition side, MPs from the separatist, anti-immigrant Northern League protested by waving flags from the northern Veneto region and signs reading "Veneto's future in the hands of Veneto's people". Opposition MPs from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) accused Renzi of "luring parliament with the umpteenth fib about the 1,000 days".
    "We don't need 1,000 days. All Renzi needs to pack his bags is one day," M5S leader Beppe Grillo wrote on his blog.
    The Left Ecology and Freedom (SEL) party, which sometimes enters into strategic alliances with the larger PD, said "we claim our right to disagree with these reforms".
    The House whip for the center-right Forza Italia (FI) party of ex premier Silvio Berlusconi said Renzi's speech was just so much "hot air".
    "It would have been more honest to admit he hasn't made it," said Renato Brunetta citing dismal economic data including rising public debt, taxes, and unemployment.
    Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, who is from the PD's center-right ally, the New Center Right party (NCD), praised the "brave, reformist" premier while Stefano Fassina from within the premier's own party blasted Renzi on Facebook, saying he "wields right-wing language to describe labour reform".