Angela Merkel won her election. As a leader deserves. She represented her political and cultural area with balance and equanimity, mixing State intervention with free trade. During the four years during which she ruled, she never raised her voice, she never put anyone under trial, she did not offend opposition, but she focused on her job, she defended her choices, making her government a believable one.

 

Always faithful to her style, as soon as she was sure about her win,

she smiled, thanked everyone, and conceded herself and her friends a relaxing night. Just one, she specified, because there is a lot to do and the day after there will be a lot of hard work. Opposition – the social-democratic party SPD – did not protest but analyzed its mistakes. When Cnn – and not the High Court of Appeal as it happens in Italy – announced that Barack Obama had won the election according to the data the news programme had in its hands, the defeated candidate, senator McCaine, addressed the crowd saying that he had telephoned the new President of the United Stated of America, Barack Obama, to wish him a good job.

 

The Americans, like the Germans, have the institutional etiquette that every civilized country should have. Italy, instead, is in front of daily delegitimizations and condemnations. Those who win, still campaign and the Prime Minister, instead of supporting unity with his Ministers, reproaches everyone, both when he is right or wrong, like in the case of the Kabul manslaughter. He heavily insulted the opposition parties who had supported the government for the Italian mission in Afghanistan. Why don’t the reasons of a country manage to prevail?

 

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute