The authorities talk so much about wisdom in the morning, before breakfast, that Italians do not know what to decide. If you want to know against whom you want to be during your day, you can read Vittorio Feltri’s “Giornale”, owned by the Berlusconi family. But this time we will deal with the Corriere della Sera columnist Angelo Panebianco. He starts from the judiciary case concerning Clemente Mastella and his wife, who will have to explain

He diagnosed the hidden illnesses of southern Italian people and described very accurately, a possible remedy. It was a pitiless analysis, which started from an undeniable introduction. “Political parties, organized or not, heavy or light, are structures which adapt to the context”, said Panebianco. “Is the context Paradise? Maybe political parties are composed of angels. Is the context Hell? Devils will prevail. Does the context ask for help from the market? This is what political parties will give. Does the context ask for public expense and nepotism? Political parties will back this request”. The consequences will be in a nutshell. “Clearance should start not from political parties but from society”. “Maybe we should agree on the fact that” continues Panebianco “in many areas of southern Italy (obviously not in all of them) the minimum conditions required for local democracy are lacking and a central compulsory administration will be necessary for many years, in order to coordinate from the centre the fight against criminal associations and the enforcement (mainly against local politicians) of projects for the development”.

Panebianco would like to cancel, for the time necessary, all signs of democracy, deprive the South of decisional power, give to special administrators the control of local bodies, social, political, health activities, and bring back to the central government, i.e. Rome, all the choices and interventions. Special laws had been asked after the mafia slaughters or during terrorism. They had been “understood” but not adopted, because this is what that particular moment suggested, it had never happened before that a military court pronounced itself on a “piece” of Italy. We thought that the issue of the Dna of southern people had been overcome, but it is not like that, and we must accept it.  

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute