«Meloni will crash into Europe. It is madness to change the parliamentary republic»- Corriere.it

Dogliani TV Festival, Carlo De Benedetti on stage. Daniela Preziosi, a journalist who interviewed him, asked him: «Was this June 2 the last of a Parliamentary Republic»? “Let’s hope not. Of course, there are those who would like it to be like this, including our Prime Minister. Let’s hope everything stays as it is, but there is one determination by Meloni declared in his election campaign, which is that of wanting to change the governance of this country. It’s madness, because if there’s one thing that works in Italy it’s the Presidency of the Republic. Mattarella – in my opinion one of the best Presidents of the Republic we have had – has navigated in the last ten years in an extraordinary way”. The reason? “If one thinks about what has happened in the last ten years and thinks about the poise and wisdom with which he has handled embarrassing situations, like Di Maio has asked for impeachment and Mattarella has made him minister… you can see the respect he has for public affairs, which is why I hope that Mattarella lasts and the institution of the Presidency of the Republic lasts”.

The publisher also attacks the leader of the M5S Giuseppe Conte: «You cannot be nostalgic for him, he was not a Prime Minister, he was by mistake. I always thought he was a nonentity, a joke of historya road accident”. De Benedetti does not beat around the bush, in line with his essay Radicality – The change Italy needs. A book written before Elly Schlein arrived at the helm of the Democratic Party: «Obviously I had no idea it would happen but I was convinced that things should be changed in Italy in a non-radical and non-Christian way. I personally did not vote for the secretariat of the Democratic Party, given that I would have chosen her and my wife Bonaccini, then the votes would cancel. I certainly thought Schlein was better suited for the radical change that the country needs.” Would you give her any advice? “I would encourage you a lot on communication, I would like it more present, more visible. It is also true that we are now in a right-wing regime in which Rai – without the need for particular orders – has already changed profoundly. For three, four weeks Rai no longer talks about immigration: I imagine the landings continue more than before but the theme has disappeared from the screens because it disturbs, it annoys».

The engineer speaks calmly but does not skimp on broadsides, who analyzes: «Ours is a country that has antibodies but also a country of people who jump on the bandwagon. It is clear what Meloni wants: he wants an authoritarian regime with all powers centralized in Palazzo Chigi. But the country is not Meloni, it is not right-wing … the total absence of a left-wing proposal means that only the right-wing proposal remains on the table ». If he were to say who made a mistake in this sense, “just take the gotha ​​of the Democratic Party and list those who have managed the country in the last ten years without ever having won an election. I am convinced that in Italy the minimum wage would be needed, but there isn’t because the Democratic Party voted against and did so to keep the union quiet. In this blindness I find the size of the Democratic Party insane and fantastic that the governor of the bank of Italy Visco has insisted on the need for the minimum wage. He should be the head of the union: Visco is more effective than Landini».

He goes on: «Italian wages haven’t increased for 20 years: it’s meaningless, we’re the only country in the West. A worker in Germany earns 60 percent more than an Italian equivalent, wages here are indecently low. The minimum wage is not a remedy for this evil but it would eliminate scandalous things, such as workers being paid 2 or 3 euros an hour. It is not sustainable and I am also convinced that we will see: at some point people will riot. At that moment I want to see how Meloni will do, because removing immigrants from television screens is easy, but removing the discontented means losing the elections”.

He is categorical against the premier: «Meloni said that taxes are a state protection money: the question of going to Catania and talking about state protection money in a city where there has been a person, an entrepreneur like Libero Grassi, killed from the mafia because he never paid protection money, it is not only a disgrace to the state but it is more: it also means irresponsibility. I don’t want to say that Paoda Schioppa was right in saying that it’s nice to pay taxes, but in fact it is: you can’t expect to have services if only the banks pay them. We have to pay them all. However, Meloni’s was an exit that comes from the bottom of her heart but it is an unworthy thing. I think and I hope he hit rock bottom».

As for the future, De Benedetti believes «we will be saved by being unprepared for this gang of incompetents who govern us. I don’t want to name individual names, they are all the same – if we think of the Minister of Agriculture who talks about ethnicity or the one of the School who says embarrassing things… – I am convinced of one thing, however, which will perhaps scandalize: I am convinced that Meloni will go crashing into Europe because it cannot keep up with Europe. It is not an ideological problem but one of ability and preparation: a Prime Minister who associates the word state with the word protection money he is unable to govern. It is not only indecency but incapacity: this tour company that governs us is not able to keep up with Europe and I say this with regret because in my head – beyond being a person who tends to be leftist – I care about ‘Italy, I’m passionate about Italy and therefore the thought that we are going to crash takes away the satisfaction of no longer seeing that little face there that wanders the corridors of Palazzo Chigi with the television following it ».

Draghi could not be a solution, in his opinion: «He did the country a lot of good, he managed it very well but it has not done democracy a good service, certainly not his fault: they asked him to be prime minister and he did it in the best way but it’s not a good message. It would be better to go to the vote, but the second major problem in Italy, in addition to the minimum wage, is electoral absenteeism: it is the worm that bites into the apple of democracy. Each of us should feel obliged to go and vote in the next elections, next June, because the future of Europe is at stake, which is much more determined than the future of Italy. It is truly a tragedy to think that the right can have a majority in the European Parliament, we would be heading towards aEurope of nations which is therefore a useless Europe”.

Finally, a passage on Last Generation activists: «I don’t find theirs to be an effective manifestation of dissent: it’s not that the world we tend to is a world of coloring fountains. That said, they do no harm to anyone.” Finally, an admission of guilt: «With Renzi, in his time, I fell for it. It can be said that I believed he could bring that innovation and also a blood change which, accompanied by his youth and his intelligence, could be of use. I was disappointed to realize that he got so overwhelmed by pursuing personal goals and not for the country ». And now with Calenda? What role can they play? “Zero. The centre-left must start from a strong core of the left, with a clear proposal for the country and whoever wants to come will come».

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