The Illegitimacy of Dini's Government (October
1995)
This is part three of a three part series on Italian poltics.
When Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro declared the country ungovernable in January of this year, the idea that a new government would have to be formed was accepted by all parties in Parliament except Forza Italia, the one single party to have won the most votes (25%). It has been suggested that such a take over, in total disregard of the election results, was, in fact, a coup d'état, albeit a non-military one. The illegitimacy of the present government is an on-going issue and the reason why one often hears so much talk about when new elections are going to be held.
Scalfaro, who has confessed that he often speaks to the Madonna, proposed Irene Pivetti as candidate to the interim government’s premiership. Besides her merit of having been elected President of the House of Deputies at the age of 30, she also holds the distinction of conversing with angels. Certainly, such a marriage with Scalfaro as President and Pivetti as Prime Minister would have given the Italians a direct connection with eternity. Although such a connection may have been auspicious to those interested in a better life in the other world, one loathes to think of what such a pious combination would have entailed for those hoping for down to earth solutions for Italy’s floundering economic situation.
Once again Berlusconi was forced into a situation of unhappy compromise. Although he was totally opposed to the formation of a new government, rather than see his position replaced by the likes of Pivetti, he proposed his own government’s finance minister, Lamberto Dini. Dini is a technocrat and it was therefore easy for his candidature to be accepted by most parties. Little did Berlusconi realize that Dini’s “interim” government would last longer than his own, and that Dini would succumb to a taste for protagonism which would allow him to forget any sense of gratitude toward the political force which brought him to power.
One of the most important causes of the fall of Silvio Berlusconi’s government had to do with the rejection of measures that he had tried to put before parliament. When Berlusconi took over as Prime Minister, there were two very important reforms on his agenda: the annulment of the law providing for preventive preliminary incarceration and the social security pension reform. The first measure was a law that, in origin, had been instigated in order to prevent Mafia members from escaping while awaiting judgment. However, the disorder and lethargy of the Italian judicial process has caused many innocent victims accused of crimes to rot in prisons for months or sometimes even years waiting to be brought to justice before a court of law. It is a law that no country that calls itself democratic could permit to have on its books any longer.
The second reform involving social security pensions is a problem known to every western nation without exception. If something isn’t done at once, those of us who plan to retire twenty years from now, will find that the system has gone bankrupt, and that they will have no monthly check to help them bear the burden of old age. This is the kind of reality that a basically welfare-state country like Italy is very unwilling to face.
It was, therefore, very easy for the opposition to call upon their allies in the labor unions to muster up all of the dissent possible against such necessary but unpopular measures. In November of last year, general strikes were called and one million people descended into the streets to protest against them, and the government that was proposing them. According to the labor union leaders, it was the demonstration with the largest turnout in post-war history.
It is noteworthy that during the month of August this year, the present interim Prime Minister, Lamberto Dini, succeeded in passing the very same measures that Berlusconi failed to even put before Parliament. None of the labor unions organized their workers to descend into the streets. No calls were made for a general strike. It might be argued that none of that happened, because in the month of August most factories are closed in Italy and people are on holiday. If that is the case, it should have called for a much stronger protest during the month of September when workers and labor union leaders were back. That such controversial measures were passed behind their backs, so to speak, while they were on vacation, should have angered them even more. However, that didn’t happen. Clearly, the problem was not with the issue, but with the man who was proposing it. It is amazing how the masses allow themselves to be manipulated for the political ends of the few.
Dini also passed the law against preliminary detention without any battle whatsoever. When Berlusconi tried to pass the same bill, he was accused of trying to keep himself and his friends out of jail during the scandal trials. With Dini's power and influence in national and international circles as a previous director of the International Monetary Fund and as former general director of the Bank of Italy, it is hard to believe he doesn't have any friends involved in the circles touched by these scandals.
When Berlusconi was in power, the on-going argument against his position in government was his conflict of interests. Curiously enough, no one has brought up the fact that Lamberto Dini also has interests that may be considered conflictual. His wife, Donatella Pasquali Zingone Dini and children own the formidable economic empire, Gruppo Zeta, which possesses interest in sectors as wide-ranging as cereals, livestock, telecommunications, and real estate. Not to mention the conflict of interests of his hand-selected Foreign Minister, Susanna Agnelli, sister of Gianni Agnelli, owner and President of Fiat. As foreign minister there is no doubt that she leaves a great deal to be desired in terms of her ability to establish a foreign policy worthy of the name. However, she is unquestionably very able at signing contracts for her brother as she travels the world with her friend and President of the Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.
October 1995
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