ROME – The battle between Lega, the right-leaning party of deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, and the use of the burqa in public spaces rages on in Venice after the motion was approved the other day in Lombardy courts. 

  A hard-line ban is still on the table but there is still talk of a more ‘tepid’ approach from the more centre-right members of government, who would like to see a burqa ban at a national level. The latest Lega initiative has been in Venice, where the municipal council group has announced that there will be a presentation of a motion to forbid the use of either a burqa or niqab as a face covering. 

 The head of the group of politicians includes Alex Bazzaro, former deputy of Salvini, Riccardo Brunello, Giovanni Giusto, Paolo Tagliapietra and Nicola Gervasutti. According to the Legists there ought to be a D.A.SPO – a ban on accessing sporting events – as well as sanctions, against men and parents who require women and children to be completely veiled. 

 Bazzaro argued that ‘the niqab is in violation of the rights of women. I am not aware of any other religion that imposes a complete face veil. Even so, we are open to a dialogue and to listen to other reasoning on the topic but we will be taking this motion to the communal courts [in Venice].’ 

 On the topic, one of the assessors Michele Zuin of Forza Italia, described the motion as ‘a bit hostile’ and that the party will ‘certainly be against the D.A.SPO,’ with the hope that there will not be a national or Venetian ban. Centre-left representatives are, of course, against the ban, with the green representative Gianfranco Bettin commenting that “in their anxiety to launch their umpteenth propagandist-ideological crusade, La Lega is attacking their [own] party leader, who himself would not enforce laws on public dress.”

  The dynamic seen here is very similar to that seen the in Lombardy, which approved the other day a motion against the Islamic veil in public buildings. During voting there was an amendment from Forza Italia, which removed the specific dictation of a ban on ‘Islamic veiling’, changing it to the more generic ‘clothing which covers the face.’

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