New insult to Boldrini sparks outcry

(ANSA) - Rome, August 1 - Five members of parliament have presented a formal question to Interior Minister Angelino Alfano after a Northern League city councillor said at the weekend that Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini should be "physically eliminated".
    The MPs said "the phrases used have gone far beyond the limits of critical freedom of expression".
    The city councillor, Monica Bars of the town of Musile di Piave near Venice, posted the comment on her Facebook page.
    The outcry came fresh on the heels of a controversy last week over comments by Matteo Salvini, leader of the rightwing anti-immigrant Northern League, who compared Boldrini to a blow-up doll during a political rally.
    The Northern League opposes Boldrini's position on recent events in Turkey, which she has labeled a "civilian coup" from which Europe should be prepared to "receive Turkish refugees".
    Bars' lawyer said that the councillor's comments "referred to the removal of Boldrini from her political role and nothing else".
    Deputy governor of the Veneto region Gianluca Forcolin, who was mayor for nine years in Musile di Piave and is also a member of the Northern League, while distancing himself from "strong statements", said "Boldrini should be more balanced in taking up positions on immigration".