euro|topics - Mass protests in Italy

Main focus of Monday, October 27, 2008

Mass protests in Italy

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome at the weekend to protest against the policies of the Berlusconi government. But the European press asks whether the Italian Left under opposition leader Walter Veltroni has any better ideas.

Dnevnik - Slovenia

Walter Veltroni's Democratic Party, which six months ago lost both elections against Berlusconi's coalition, is slowly waking up, writes the daily Dnevnik: "With its independent performance the Democratic Party wanted to show that it is the leading force of the opposition and that it is capable of governing the country. ... Saturday's demonstration at least on the surface appeared to be a major rally of democratic Italy. ... But it was academics, Italians who are against racism and an authoritarian style of leadership [and] those who wake up in the morning and discover that while they were asleep at night somebody has curtailed their rights who took part. ... Italians love collective protests and are masters at organising them. It looks as though the time has come to turn back in search of solutions. Walter Veltroni is convinced that he is the solution. Yet with the mass rallies on Saturday all he obtained from his voters was the right to be re-examined at the next elections." (27/10/2008)

Le Figaro - France

The daily Le Figaro thinks the political Left in Italy and its leader Walter Veltroni are still of only marginal significance: "The Democratic Party (PD) is just a year old. With its 33 percent it is the country's second strongest political formation after [Berlusconi's] Forza Italia. But its voice can scarcely be heard ... against Berlusconi who dominates the entire political scene ... In his grey suit and open-necked blue shirt Veltroni conducts his meeting as a speaker who copies the methods of [US Democratic presidential candidate] Barack Obama. He speaks quickly and without notes; in a loud voice he is alternately outraged, scornful, contemptuous ... That will not be enough to reassure those who criticise his political line from the left. ... Berlusconi, by contrast, sees this demonstration simply as a means 'to conceal the disintegration of the Left.'" (27/10/2008)

La Repubblica - Italy

The left-wing liberal daily La Repubblica condemns Berlusconi's reaction to the mass demonstrations as as contempt for democracy: "To describe the demonstration as an assembly of windbags and to advise the leader of the opposition to take a holiday and leave the government to get on with its work in peace is tantamount to showing contempt for the rules of fair play in a democracy and for the political opposition. ... His angry words conceal a totalitarian vision of political dialectics. It is not only impatience with any form of dissent, it is also intolerance towards what Antonio Gramsci called the democratic siege: namely, that forces with ambitions to govern must rigorously criticise those in power and propose an alternative, and that is exactly what the party has done ... The 25 October has shown that a different policy is not only possible but necessary. That is the mission of the PD." (27/10/2008)

Il Sole 24 Ore - Italy

The business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore confirms the success of the demonstration staged by the left-wing opposition, but doubts whether it will have any long-term political impact: "The Democratic Party can be satisfied. ... The reformism of the masses of which Walter Veltroni speaks in order not to be accused of populism remains an ideal. A goal with interesting possibilities, but a goal that was not defined in the Circus Maximus [the place where the demonstration was held]. This also shows the uncertainty of the slogans. It is correct to say that a different Italy is possible. But it would be a mistake to claim that the country is better than the Right that rules it. The Right was elected by a majority of Italians in April.[These are] the same Italians that the PD is now attempting to win over. The old scheme of things, whereby left-wing Italy is supposed to be morally and anthropologically superior to right-wing Italy, is not an ideal way of going about converting people ... Now it is time to start making policy again. And that happens in parliament with concrete proposals." (26/10/2008)

» To the complete press review of Monday, October 27, 2008

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