Rome, 19 November: Yesterday, Matteo Mecacci, the President of the Italian Parliamentary Inter-Group for Tibet, Gianni Vernetti, the Vice-President of the Italian Parliamentary Group for Tibet and the former under secretary of State of the Italian government and Gianni Alemanno, the Mayor of Rome, welcomed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and around 200 parliamentarians from around the world to partecipate in the 5th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet.
Matteo Macacci said, “I welcome you to the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament on the occassion of the 5th World Parliamentarians’ Convention on Tibet. I am doing this because in the past, the Italian Parliament espressed full support for the Tibetan people’s struggle for human rights. Human rights i san inalienabile right of all people. As we say in Italy, if constant and consistent, a drop of water can dig a hole in a stone.”
Gianni Vernetti in his address said, “This conference is made possible because there is an extraordinary institution, the Tibetan Parliament in exile. I have been to Dharamsala twice. I saw its functioning. The Tibetan people have chosen the ballot over bullets. Tibetan have been able to achieve this because of India, perhaps the greatest democracy in the world. Because of this, the Tibetans have achieved what thez have achieved in exile. This is to inform you that the Italian Parliament has passed several resolutions on Tibet in the last 10 years and supported the Middle-Way Approach of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” (more…)