“This is a society that is full of fear and politics can channel these fears in various directions. Today, people’s fears are being directed towards migrants but also towards petty crime,” he said during a visit to this Sicilian city.
Orlando belongs to the Democratic Party (PD) whose centre-left coalition came a poor third in last month’s inconclusive national election.
Voters snubbed the PD over immigration – a sensitive issue in Italy where over 600,000 boat migrants have arrived from Africa since 2014 – and the over the sluggish pace of economic recovery.
Italy has been under a caretaker government since the election as President Sergio Mattarella struggles to form a coalition government from the main political forces in the hung parliament.
The PD had been in power since 2013.
