Often friends and acquaintances ask me questions about Italian politics. Now as the Italian Elections are set to take place on March 4, it seems to be the topic du jour.
It may well take me a lifetime to try and understand the electoral process and its ramifications in Italy. To understand why people make their choices one needs to get into the psyche of a nation, no matter where.
The following is a simple overview of what I do know and some of my observations.
The ballot that is sent to Italians who can vote and live in the States has nine (yes 9!) parties listed. There are many more parties listed on ballots in Italy as if more are needed! Below a sample of the ballot for House of Representatives. You usually do not see names of candidates; in Italy you vote for the party. It often is not clear who will lead their party till after it is chosen.
The Democratic Party or PD is the party in power now and has been for five years, with Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni as the head replacing Matteo Renzi who was the the PM till late 2016.
You may recognize a familiar name on the coalition symbol. The League, formerly known as Lega Nord, is a combination of three parties: Forza Italia, whose spokesperson is Silvio Berlusconi, who had been a three time prime minister in the recent past but can not attend parliament at the moment due to a criminal conviction. Confused yet…? It will be interesting to see which of the three names on the ballot will lead the party if they get the majority.
Moving on to the Five Star Movement, Movimento 5 Stelle, which was founded by comedian Beppe Grillo. He has decided he will not run the party if it wins the majority.
The three parties that I have listed are the three that seem to be the front-runners.
“Free Flights to Italy” is not a front runner! Anyone can register a party.
I do have opinions but will try not to express those views in this post, I will however venture to express the following observations (opinions?!).
All elections in all countries need to be taken very seriously and citizens need to vote. Sounds fundamental? In the United States, approximately 50% of its citizens vote. While in Italy over 75% of the population vote. However, due to the large number of parties represented, in spite of the turnout, often no party takes the majority and a coalition has to be formed. With no party dominating, the promise for change is put on the back burner. In the past this has been the main reason why governments do not last the five year term allowed by the Constitution. That is why Italy has had so many governments since 1945, when it was still a monarchy.
These last few years has seen a world wide populist movement, which many attribute to the huge immigration numbers caused by war, and economic crisis resulting in unemployment. Many feel disenfranchised. Yet, change is slow to come and when there may be an upswing to the standard of living, a change in government takes place and often things slide backwards. A wave of fear has gripped voters resulting in a cry for solutions. Often, people who react from fear make drastic choices and take chances without thinking through long term consequences. We have seen in many nations, parties and/or candidates, who are to the extreme left or right take the stage. What we are seeing results in division among the nation’s population. One side vs. the other with not much accomplished, except resentments or worse.
When making choices some important questions may need to be asked. Is the candidate or the party making promises he/she can keep? Are solutions being presented or are we hearing criticisms of each other without clear goals and objectives? What about experience and competence? How has that been measured in the past, for it really does count. Last but not least, ethics. Is the dialogue respectful, or is it all name calling and bullying…
I am hoping that citizens of all countries as, they take their voting responsibility in hand, look at world history (and current events) and the mistakes that have resulted from poor choices and give serious thought to their vote. Our world’s future counts on it.
fondlyfromflorence&beyond 