A pregnant rightwing politician who is considering launching a bid to be mayor of Rome has been declared unfit for the job by Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s former prime minister, who said the role was not compatible with motherhood.

Berlusconi, the head of the conservative Forza Italia party who was forced out of office in 2011 after a series of sex and financial scandals, had planned to join forces with rightwing groups to back a single candidate to try to win the mayor’s office, one of the country’s most high-profile political positions.

But his dismissive remarks about Giorgia Meloni, who leads the nationalist Brothers of Italy party and has the backing of the rightwing Northern League, has instead ignited debate in Italy over the treatment of women in politics.



“A mother cannot be mayor. Being mayor means being in your office 14 hours a day,” Berlusconi told Rai Radio station. “I don’t think this could be the right choice for Meloni.”

His preferred candidate, Guido Bertolaso, also weighed in on the debate, saying Meloni’s first task was “the job of being a mum”. “I don’t see why someone should force her to do a ferocious election campaign and take care of potholes and dirtiness while she is breastfeeding,” Bertolaso said.

Prominent female politicians across the political spectrum in Italy have denounced the remarks. “This country is not for women. What is happening these days is incredible, it reveals an underlying misogyny,” said Beatrice Lorenzin, health minister.

Berlusconi’s remarks came days after a candidate for mayor of Milan for the populist Five Star Movement, Patrizia Bedori, dropped out of the contest after being mocked for her appearance. She was also ridiculed for being a stay-at-home mother. On Facebook, Bedori wrote in a parting message that she had been called “ugly, fat and obese” by critics who sought to offend her by calling her a “housewife”.

“I’m not offended,” she wrote. “There are millions of housewives in Italy and it is thanks to them – your mothers, sisters, wives and girlfriends – that every day devote their time with dedication to family … and take on a whole series of tasks for which the state has failed, like the care of the elderly, that Italy is standing.”

Italian health minister Beatrice Lorenzin, who decried a lack of respect for female politicians. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

Lorenzin, who gave birth to twins last year, said of both controversies: “No one says to a man that he is ugly and fat. All this demonstrates that there is no respect for women, there is no recognition of women as political actors and people.”

Another prominent female politician, the reform minister Maria Elena Boschi, who has also been the subject of media commentary for her looks, expressed solidarity with Meloni and Bedori on Twitter. “When is a male candidate asked to withdraw because he is not telegenic? Or because he is a father?” she wrote.

Quando chiederanno a un candidato uomo di ritirarsi perché non telegenico? O perché deve fare il padre? Solidarietà a #Bedori e #Meloni. — maria elena boschi (@meb) March 14, 2016

The current Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, was also forced into the fray. As he headed out of Palazzo Chigi, he was asked by a reporter whether a mother could also be mayor of Rome.

“Sure, absolutely yes,” he said, before quickly adding that he nevertheless wanted the Democratic party’s candidate, Roberto Giachetti, to win the race.

The political discord in Rome between Berlusconi and the Northern League head, Matteo Salvini, represents good news for another major party vying for the mayoral post, the Five Star Movement, whose candidate is a 37-year-old lawyer named Virginia Raggi.



The fallout is a sign of Berlusconi’s waning influence and the ascendency of Salvini, whose Northern League party has gained traction for its xenophobic attitude towards migrants and the Roma minority.

Whoever wins the election this summer will be filling an office that has been rocked by one scandal after another. The former mayor, a transplant physician named Ignazio Marino, was forced to resign last year after questions were raised about his expenses.