Reforms, the eternal return of the duel over the "strong man" (who this time is perhaps a woman) - Corriere.it

One surprises: let's make a Bicameral. The second is thrown: the mayor of Italy is excellent. The third is recommended: premiership and regional autonomy march together! And the others more or less chorus, with ises and nos, that a certificate of existence, kept in the wallet like a residence permit, can always come in handy. And so the challenge over the strong man, or rather the very strong woman, is reduced to a duel between the two Giamburrascas of Italian politics, the only ones who say they are fed up with the old soup and want pappa col pomodoro, even if then, on how to cook it, they bite each other. One, Giorgia Meloni, dominated the elections, the other, Elly Schlein, can't wait to fight. That when you're the fastest gun in the West, there's always someone to challenge you. The first, not without reasons, maintains that the system is unstable, and that the right of voters to choose who governs them must be defended. And the proof there for all to see, with the repeated changes of majority and commissioners of politics. The other, not without reason, does not deny, but uses the mockery, which is so much in opposition, and suggests an enlightened monarchy as a solution.

the eternal return of the controversy on the man alone in command, with the significant variant that perhaps, this time, precisely a woman. Schlein: I am against reducing in any way the role of the President of the Republic, to run towards a model of man or woman, alone or alone, strong in command. Meloni: I'm not interested in imagining a single man in charge, however, I want governments not to be created above the skin of the citizens.

Sure, finding your way around isn't easy. Nor does the Gospel help much, with the parable of the strong man. When the strong and well-armed man looks at the entrance to his house, what he possesses is safe. But when someone stronger than him arrives and defeats him, he takes away all the armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. The strong man, it seems to understand, the devil, who dominates the less strong man. And the stronger man is divine intervention, which frees the less strong man from the tyranny of the stronger.

Quite a quirk, no doubt. But the dilemma seems to be all here. The strong man is good if good, bad if bad, and the sentence is therefore reduced to deciding whether the popular vote gives the same guarantees as divine providence.

And here the contradictions abound. Silvio Berlusconi, rightly or wrongly accused of being an autocrat, the strong man par excellence, in 2016 railed against the referendum on the abolition of the Senate, wanted by Matteo Renzi, evoking the risk of a single man in command. And he said it, that ten years earlier, on the occasion of the consultation on his constitutional reform, he was defeated thanks to the fear that he would take on the role of the strong man. Renzi, who probably would have run to early elections if he had prevailed in the referendum, tried the way to the polls even after losing, because he claimed to be strong from the forty percent minority of the electorate who had sided with him. Giuseppe Conte, in September 2021, with ancient wisdom, warned about Mario Draghi: very authoritative and very capable, but one man alone in command is not enough to resolve things.

Of course, however, he didn't seem to mind when, in almost perfect solitude and under the wave of the pandemic, he even decided whether or not we could have Christmas lunch with our grandparents. And then Matteo Salvini, who wanted to open a seat in Papeete to have full powers. Or Beppe Grillo and Gianroberto Casaleggio from the beginning, who thought that the strong man should be an algorithm. And then those who row against, and then the owls, and then those who work against Italy, and then the cows in the corridor, the jaguars to spot, and those who won the elections who take no prisoners, and those who lost them who pretend to impose vetoes.

And in short, if you go too far alone, you risk loneliness. But if I can be the strong man, let's talk about it, which can be good for the country. If, on the other hand, you want to be the strong man, let's not joke, democracy is a serious matter. For now, in Italian history, the only one who has brought everyone to agreement has been the radio commentator Mario Ferretti, with his revelation: There is only one man in charge, his white and blue shirt, his name is Fausto Coppi. But it was the Cuneo-Pinerolo stage.

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