Protests in Italy

Protests against cuts that affect the education system and other sectors have been going on for several weeks now in Italy. This weekend the left-wing democratic opposition party PD plans to stage a rally against the policies of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government. The Italian daily La Stampa criticises Berlusconi's threats to take action against the protests. "The intended or unintended result of Berlusconi's words has been that the different movements have now merged into a single united front. There are calls for the [PD] party's rally to be opened to all the different parties. The upshot of this could be that the demonstration turns once again - as was the case several years ago - into an anti-Berlusconi rally for which the left-wing opposition pays a high price and thanks to which Berlusconi has accumulated a generous amount of political capital in recent years. We don't know whether the Prime Minister's intention [by forcing the PD into a radical position] was to increase the tension. But one thing is for sure: this is not the right way to convince students, teachers and parents of the merits of the school reform. ... Sending soldiers to deal with piles of rubbish in Naples is not the same as militarising schools."

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