In Merano, the new mayor Zeller removes the tricolour sash

Having started out in a pleasant dance with her allies on Sunday night, after her victory in the run-off, Katharina Zeller, the new mayor of Merano, gave rise to a “tricolour incident” a few hours later during the handover ceremony with the outgoing Dario Dal Medico.

At the moment of the proclamation of the election and the delivery of the keys to the city by Dal Medico, Zeller donned and then dramatically removed after a few seconds the tricolour sash that mayors are required by law to wear during official public events.

The doctor, who had handed her the armband, appears momentarily taken aback by the gesture, but Zeller places the armband on a bench in the city council and continues without it.

In the face of the controversy created by the gesture, Mayor Zeller clarified in a statement that: "My reaction in removing the tricolor sash immediately after it had been placed on my shoulders must in no way be interpreted as a gesture of contempt towards the symbols of the Republic or towards the tricolor itself. I will wear the sash with the utmost respect in all circumstances provided for by the institutional protocol, as my German-speaking predecessors have always done". "This attempt to raise an unfounded controversy only aims to diminish the importance of a mature political change - continues Zeller - built on a real dialogue between the linguistic groups, which I have always promoted and will continue to promote with responsibility".