If the Italian left did not exist, Berlusconi would have to invent it on purpose. If Italy is in full democratic emergency, that's in part the fault of center-left parties. Between 94 and 96 the commitee for elections of the House saved Berlusconi several times with the votes of the left, even if it should have legitimately prevent a holder of tv concessions to stand for an elective office.
Berlusconi to enter politics would have to give up his television, and so eliminate his huge conflict of interest. But he never worried too much about the issue, because obviously his opponents had guaranteed they would not have tried to take off his televisions. In fact when in government, they never did.
A really absurd agreement, because Berlusconi has always used his power on the media for political purposes and has never kept any promise, nor the ones made to the Italians during the election campaigns, neither those made to political opponents. Yet the center-left continues, even today, to seek "dialogue" with him, as an elaborate form of self-harm. The occasions in which the italian center-left has helped Berlusconi or refrained from attacking him in moments of weakness are so numerous that they cannot be listed in a reasonable space.
The final masterpiece Veltroni did in 2008, destroying, to create his Democratic party (PD), the unity that for better or worse had allowed center-left parties to win the election twice, in 1996 and 2006. From PD onwards has been a constant deterioration. The left, after the election defeat of the Rainbow Left, has broken into a myriad of pieces that continue to break up for reasons incomprehensible to common people.
The PD, instead of making opposition to a terrifying government, criticized more often its chief ally, the IDV (Italy of Values), than Berlusconi. Now, in view of regional elections, PD will ally with Casini's UDC (Center Christian party). If in terms of loyalty to the democratic institutions the UDC is certainly better than Berlusconi, however, some points in its program are hardly digestible, such as having candidate again as Senator Salvatore Cuffaro, who was sentenced in first instance for collusion with the Mafia, considered by judges a man linked to organized crime since the early 90's. Or the fact that UDC is a party that was founded by the Catholic right, and therefore supports a series of laws incompatible with the secular nature of the state aimed at banning civil unions, assisted fertilization and living will.
The behavior of the leadership of the PD since its creation, and the italian center-left in general since 94, could reasonably make everyone believe that in reality they have always been secret allies of Berlusconi. But most likely they just feel an irresistible attraction to the right. After all they too have Catholic fundamentalists in the party and have been touched many times by suspicions of collusion with the Mafia. Not to mention their sad unrequited love for the Italian employers' federation.
Since in the italian political left there is a desert, incredibly the IDV, a party that once supported neoliberalism, nuclear power, denied the commission of inquiry into the repression of the 2001 Genoa G8 and didn't give a damn about precarious jobs, today was forced to fill the vacuum and began to defend the workers, support renewable energy and even criticize police abuses.
But it is difficult that IDV alone can win the election, so to beat Berlusconi remains necessary the unity of all the political forces that do not intend to dismantle the Constitution and systematically violate human rights. Dialogue and compromise are always possible, but only with reasonable people of good will.
It would be reasonable for example to allow lay people and catholics to determine freely their own lives according to their beliefs without interference from the state. Too bad that many politicians, from the right to the PD, have no intention of being reasonable on this point, since they prefer religious fanaticism.
It would be reasonable from any point of view to not candidate individuals under investigation for corruption or collusion with organized crime. Too bad that many parties have candidated even people condemned in the first instance.
In this situation a decent left should start again on a fairly simple program, maybe the one, not honoured, with whom Prodi was elected in 2006 to end precarious work, to defend the secular state and the Constitution, to promote renewable energy instead of the absurd revival of nuclear power, to respect the independence of the judiciary, to clean up local and national politics from corruption and any Mafia infiltration, to respect the human rights of everyone, even those of illegal immigrants and prisoners.
A short program that could be easily shared by any Italian honest and in good faith. Instead, because there is nothing reasonable in Italian politics, the opposition will continue as always to wallow in the gray area between incomprehensible divisions and unjustifiable compromises, while Berlusconi continues to win and go forward in the pursuit of his private affairs.
Francesco Defferrari
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Comments
Quanto sarebbe diversa la situazione se, al posto di avere un partito comunista, avessimo avuto all'opposizione della DC un partito social-democratico o liberal-socialista?