"Remembering Francesco Cocco Ortu today means keeping alive the ideas of an enlightened and liberal man, who left Sardinia and Italy a very high moral and political heritage". These are the words of the Regional Councilor for Agriculture, Gabriella Murgia , who this morning participated in Cagliari , at the former Royal Museum , at the ceremony for the delivery to the Archaeological Museum of the silver plate that Sardinia donated in 1922 to Francesco Cocco Ortu .

"Lawyer, journalist, jurist, deputy for almost fifty years from 1876 to 1924, Minister of Grace and Justice and Agriculture, Cocco Ortu - recalled the representative of the Giunta Solinas - addressed his strong political commitment to build a country more modern, thanks to public investments that have also favored the construction of fundamental works for the development of Sardinia: from artificial reservoirs to reclamation, from the production of hydroelectric energy to the expansion of the railway network. , with a series of legislative measures collected in the Consolidated Law of 1907 , the first example in Italy of effective regional legislation ".

"Politician of action and thought - concluded the commissioner Murgia - in his work as legislator he anticipated issues that years later will become of great public debate, such as safety in the workplace , the right to vote , school obligations , even signing a bill on divorce which was later rejected in the Chamber. Opponent of the fascist regime, he withdrew from politics and wrote the autobiographical memoirs as a legacy for future generations, elaborating memories and reflections still current today for the defense of democracy and against any authoritarian drift and totalitarian ".

(Unioneonline / vl)