WTI Magazine #14    2014 Jan, 24
Author : Francesca Papasergi      Translation by:

The election bill proposed by Mr. Renzi and Mr. Berlusconi, called "Italicum" (yes, in Italy we have the habit to give names to electoral bills), hasn't been voted yet, and it is part of a broader project of institutional reform.

Mr. Grillo keeps writing things like "Laws should be made by the Parliament, into the Parliament" on his blog, but he's not even a representative: he's not in the Parliament, and neither are Mr. Renzi (he is the mayor of Florence) and Mr. Berlusconi (he has been kicked out of the Senate for being definitively convicted). Still, all of them are the leaders of their parties.

This is it, then. It is happening again: something that isn't actually effective is already seen as the root of all evil and media are concentrating on it, leaving everything else apart. If I were Mr. Renzi, I would have acted differently. I would have called a meeting with every leader, altogether. I would have discussed it in depth, for a longer time, to avoid this predictable chaos. But I'm not the Democratic Party's leader, he is.

There are some other arguable positions. Mr. Grillo called for an online referendum, where 20,000 persons voted to get back to the old electoral system, the one used when the average Government would last only nine months. He claims he's not making any deal with anybody, but is he sure that his voters are going to understand this immobility? Many of them chose the 5SM because they wanted their country to change and the results are not extraordinary at all. Good luck with that, Mr. Grillo.

The Democratic Party's old guard doesn't like the bill, because of its content but also because Mr. Renzi came to an agreement with Mr. Berlusconi. Not only it would be actually impossible to change the Constitution by themselves (the Italian Constitution needs the 66% of votes in the Parliament to be changed. It is called "maggioranza qualificata"), but none of them seems to remember that they have been governing with Mr. Berlusconi, and that he still represents millions and millions of Italians.

Italy desperately needs reforms. Nothing has been changed yet, there's nothing really new, but Mr. Renzi is showing that it is not impossible to act fast and decisively. This could be a new beginning, it's up to us as Italians to make it happen.