The case of Alfredo Cospito and the protests of the anarchists continue to hold sway. For the column Black and white we spoke to former minister Paola De Micheli and Elisabetta Gardini, deputy group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber.
Should Cospito remain at 41-bis?
Micheli’s: “It is a decision that belongs to the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice in the light of all the elements in their possession, it is not a decision that belongs to politics. In absolute terms, I am against the abolition of 41bis, a measure that has proven to be useful and effective in fighting mafias and crime”.
Gardini: “According to the Brothers of Italy Cospito must absolutely remain at 41-bis. Anyone who has committed serious crimes such as kicking a company manager in the legs and – not only has he not repented – but even uses his own imprisonment as a megaphone for his own battles, backed by the heads of organized crime and the mafia, cannot do it frank”.
The centre-left took to the streets against the fascist danger, but don’t you think that in this historical moment the anarchists are more dangerous?
Micheli’s: “Violence must be condemned regardless, the danger is represented by all those who resort to it by placing themselves in conflict with the values of our Constitution. The events in Florence are very serious, having even involved some students; the censure of Minister Valditara against the principal Savino was disconcerting, the educational environment must always be protected and free”.
Gardini: “The intimidation and devastation of the anarchists’ marches in recent days and in the past months are there for all to see. It is evident how a left running out of arguments prefers to wave a specter such as the fascist danger, punctually brought out, but just as promptly ignored by Italian citizens who in the voting booth prefer to choose who fights for real and concrete issues, lived every day “.
Meloni and Valditara hanging upside down. Is there a risk of returning to a 70s-style atmosphere in schools too?
Micheli’s: “I would leave the 70s in their place, they seem to me completely out of place comparisons. The banner displayed on the wall of a school is an act to be condemned in its entirety, as the head teacher of the institute has already promptly done”.
Gardini: “The depiction of President Meloni and Minister Valditara upside down is only the latest example in chronological order of the dialectic violence coming from a specific political party that perhaps fights for the respect of the rights of the female world and then lets go to threats, insults and obscenities of all kinds against the first female prime minister. Certain messages do not intimidate us, but they certainly must not fall on deaf ears and we must all tone down to ensure that politics is once again based on confrontation and not on confrontation”.
In your opinion, has the government done something wrong in managing these issues?
Micheli’s: “I believe that the government has used them on more than one occasion as ‘instruments of mass distraction’, functional to divert public opinion’s attention from the many second thoughts of the executive since taking office and from the international embarrassments of the last weeks”.
Gardini: “The government, from my point of view, has done nothing wrong. The state cannot back down in the face of threats and blackmail. The decomposed cries coming from the left are exploitations to be returned to the sender. They have no arguments or ideas to propose, they always avoid going into the merits of the issues and practice the insult as a strategy”.
What should or shouldn’t the opposition do to calm the climate that has been created?
Micheli’s: “When you govern, you always have a greater responsibility. Furthermore, the oppositions have not exacerbated the climate, I recall that some members of the government have taken on non-institutional attitudes on more than one occasion. The Democratic Party will continue to highlight the errors of this government, without ambiguity and without discounts; it will do so by listening to the many people it represents and reporting their requests. We have a different vision of the country’s future and our proposals will be concrete and substantially different from those of the government”.
Gardini: “The oppositions should do what they rightly asked of us when we were a minority: to form a responsible opposition, thinking of Italy’s interests. These are issues on which we must stand side by side with the state, on the side of legality, without hesitation. But I’m afraid we’ll have to wait quite a while.”