Interview with Sergio Mattarella: June 2 reminds us of the right to happiness

We publish a preview of the interview granted by the head of state, Sergio Mattarella, to the journalist Paolo Pagliaro for the Postenews magazine, on the occasion of June 2, the feast of the Italian Republic.

President Mattarella, the Republic celebrates 75 years since the entry into force of the Constitution. What holiday is June 2nd?

“June 2 is the ‘feast of us Italians’, who have chosen and wanted the Republic. On June 2, 1946, more than 89 percent of eligible voters went to the polls, in a country still seriously wounded by the war and the other adventures of the fascist regime. The republican form was preferred to the monarchy and acquired its concrete configuration with the Constitutional Charter. It was drawn up by the Constituent Assembly elected on the same occasion as the institutional referendum: the Fathers and Mothers of our Republic. The recourse to consultation by universal suffrage, for men and women, with a free and secret vote, already represented in itself an extraordinary constitutive moment of the new conscience. The forms that regulate our coexistence are the declination of principles that we find in the first part of the Constitution. The centrality of the person, the recognition of his integrity and inviolability, the primacy of equality among human beings, dignity, freedom, solidarity, rights and duties characterize the democratic structure of the new State born of the Liberation. These are values ​​that belong to all citizens. They are ours, and they live in society in the passage between generations in active participation in civil life”.

What does our Constitution tell us?

“Constitutionalism inspired by the Enlightenment inserted the right to the pursuit of happiness into the charters. The preamble to the declaration of independence of the United States bears this inscription, moreover suggested by a great Italian thinker, Gaetano Filangieri. From that beautiful reference – present in some Constitutions today – our Charter indicates the right to work which, on closer inspection, is another way of declining human dignity, made up of personal fulfillment and means of sustenance, on the road to happiness. This is a commitment imprinted as an incipit in our Constitution and taken up again in the first four articles with exceptional clarity and force. They are also articles full of hope and projected towards the new generations. These are articles – and principles – that indicate permanent political, legislative and government action that manages to look beyond the immediate to design the best landing place for the younger generations. Work, the foundation of the Republic, is a goal that is still missing for too many young people and too many women. There is a need to connect the transformations of economic models underway, due to technological evolution, with the training necessary to interpret them, govern them to affirm the primacy of the person against the mere logic of profit or domination”.

What can young people and women expect?

“Young people must participate in the transformations taking place in the country and not suffer its effects. Working in a country other than one’s own must be a choice and an opportunity to increase one’s training. It can’t be a necessary escape. Young people ask to be heard. They are the vital energy that is quickly being reintroduced into the engine of Italy. Article 3 of the Charter assigns the Republic the task of removing the economic and social obstacles which, by effectively limiting the freedom and equality of citizens, prevent the full development of the human person and the effective participation of all workers to the political, economic and social organization of the country. It is our declination of a right to happiness. As for women, there are old and new dynamics that influence life choices. There are still obstacles to be removed to allow them full realization in the working dimension and in private life. When the right of an individual is denied, the whole community suffers. As long as there is only one area de facto barred to a woman, the principle of equality will be betrayed”.

So democracy is listening…

“Listening by the institutions and participation by citizens, also through the social formations that constitute the strength of contemporary civil societies. Sometimes, conflict tends to prevail over dialogue and, worse – a phenomenon that is not new but no less regrettable, aggravated today by the distorted use of social media – is the manifestation in the public dimension of expressions of hatred, even more disturbing if they are an expression of political struggle. Even verbal violence creates gaps that cannot be filled, undermines and renders sterile any sense of community”.

For 75 years, the Constitution has been the guarantee framework for the exercise of citizens’ freedom and democratic participation.

“The vitality of its principles has allowed the development of Italian society and will allow us to orient ourselves in the great transformations that are going through our time. The Constitutional Charter places the person as a subject to whom rights and duties can be attributed. It is the matrix of the Republic’s values ​​and the source to which we return whenever we need to redefine our vision. Democracy has become the norm of life of our community and its practice strengthens it. The Italian people recently passed the terrible test of the pandemic, finding in solidarity, the cornerstone of our Constitution, the key to tackling it. The us and the sense of community prevailed over isolation and impotence. On the morning of April 25, 2020 when, in solitude, I went to the Vittoriano on the occasion of Liberation Day to pay homage to the fallen and, only at the time of the deposition of the crown, I removed the protective mask, I tried to express in that moment the strength of an entire community. I wasn’t alone.”

Our Constitution rejects war as an offense to the freedom of other peoples and an instrument for settling international disputes…

“It is the art. 11, which continues: ‘(Italy) consents, on equal terms with the other States, to the limitations of sovereignty necessary for an order that ensures peace and justice among Nations; promotes and favors international organizations aimed at this end’. Because peace is not just the ‘absence of war’, but a general project of coexistence between human beings that characterizes the whole structure of the Constitution. It adheres to Kant’s luminous idea of ​​’perpetual peace’, not with an ‘exhortative spirit’ or for an aesthetic reason, but with compelling force, because human beings are exposed to frailties and passions and only if they move in a spirit of concord and collaboration can win the real enemies who threaten them. Think of the climatic upheavals and famines, think of the pandemics, such as those that have recently affected populations from all over the world, think of the tragedy of the ongoing conflicts”.

The construction of Europe finds its roots in this.

“European unity represents one of the most successful events in the history of our continent. Within the framework of the European institutions and with their help it has been possible to achieve the greatest social progress, guarantee democracy and the system of freedoms, ensure a condition of peace after the continuous conflicts of previous centuries. In today’s context, in which the size of the protagonists of international life is decisive, none of the individual countries that belong to the European Union would be capable, alone, of playing an effective role. In moments of crisis, the values ​​of the European founding pact are rediscovered to face emergencies together. Even for the construction of the common house, progress has been faster in difficult moments. The response to the pandemic has been an example of this. In the globalized world, stating that no one saves themselves is not a mere ritual affirmation. Next year there will be elections to the European Parliament. An extraordinary opportunity for democracy for the citizens of twenty-seven countries. We are Europe”.