ITALY:Not for the first time the outspoken leader of Italy's federalist Lega Nord, senator Umberto Bossi, finds himself in the eye of a storm, following remarks made to party followers at Ca'San Marco, near Bergamo, northern Italy on Sunday.
Speaking to 500 Northern League followers, Mr Bossi suggested that such is the frustration among his party members that not only are they tempted to invoke a "tax strike" but they might also take up arms.
"So far things have worked out well. The Padani [ northern Italians] are decent people, they work hard, they complain [ about taxes] but then they pay up. They've never pulled out a gun, but there's always a first time, sooner or later."
Mr Bossi's words prompted an immediate rebuke from Italian president Giorgio Napolitano who, without naming the Northern League leader, issued a statement calling on politicians to "moderate their language". He said: "Faced with obvious excess in the polemics of the political debate, [ the president] feels the need to express a strong call for moderation."
Senior centre-left figures, Democratic Left general secretary Piero Fassino and Margherita leader Francesco Rutelli, were among many to express their disapproval of Mr Bossi's militant language. They called on centre-right opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi to "disassociate himself" from "a call to violence and rebellion which might unfortunately find irresponsible followers". Mr Berlusconi has so far declined to comment.
Mr Bossi (65) is no stranger to political controversy. In his desire to promote a Northern League identity, he has invented the fictional "people of Padania", set up a Padania parliament and government, declared "independence" from the rest of Italy and threatened secession. In a speech in Venice, he once declared the Italian flag to be good for wiping one's backside with, but for little else.
Having touched a high of 10.4 per cent of the national vote in the 1996 general election, the Northern League vote has dropped off in recent years, winning 4.58 per cent of votes in the 2006 general election in April. Mr Bossi's remarks may be an attempt to revive his party's flagging identity.