Truck drivers set off a new political crisis in Italy

To protest against the rise of oil prizes, thousands of truck drivers have decided to jam roads and motorways, and are thus preventing gas stations from being supplied. "Behind this wild truck strike ... lies the fundamental question of lawfulness, of respecting or violating the law", says columnist Giovanni Valentini. "This extends to an even more serious question, about the authority, the legitimacy of political power, and thus, its ability to foist social rules on the community in a democratic way. ... It's not a matter of left or right, of being ruled by this or that government, or of having a strong or a weakened majority. The lack of political credibility, authority and consensus, threatens the social fabric. Individual interests, selfishness and corporate demands could blast it away."

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