Never in the history of the Republic had a parliamentary commission accumulated so much power as is happening to Copasir, which in one year became the “safe” of Parliament, acquiring new skills: from confidential news on weapons to Ukrainians to state secrets on strategic issues . And acting with timeliness once rare, as is happening in these hours with the launch of information procedures on the Salvini-Capuano case. But precisely to maintain its maximum effectiveness, the president of the Parliamentary Committee for the security of the Republic, Adolfo Urso, proposes “making it safe”, overcoming some legislative weaknesses: “In recent times, the concept of national security has expanded dramatically and the control of the Committee has extended to all the social and economic articulation that contributes to the security of the Republic. An intervention is necessary that guarantees that “systematic and continuous” control activity, desired by the law but in part disregarded ».
The extension of the golden power impressed by the government to different areas is impressive to the point that a seed company has recently been considered strategic for national security. After the election as president of Adolfo Urso of the Brothers of Italy, in one year Copasir has kept a steady pace: 112 sessions, 95 hearings and all decisions taken unanimously.
What prompted you to take such an initiative with such a bang on the declarations of Capuano?
“These are the usual procedures when issues relating to the security of the Republic emerge, first of all with the request for information to the competent bodies which from time to time may be intelligence agencies, government authorities, prosecutors or the newly established National Cybersecurity Agency”.
It is legitimate to suspect that there is something opaque in the League’s “Russian plan” …
«I never express opinions on the activity of parliamentarians. Salvini was audited by Copasir when he was Minister of the Interior and therefore knows well the rules that oversee the security of the Republic. I trust he has taken this into account ».
Arms issue in Ukraine: in parliament only the ten of Copasir know which and how many weapons have been sent?
«It is so. The specific decree is classified and the contents are known only to us, who are called to verify whether there is conformity with the parliamentary mandate “.
If a party leader quietly asks “his” information on the Committee, he will have it …
“It can’t happen! We operate on a delegation from Parliament with the bond of secrecy on all acts, except those we decide to make public. Every week we receive hundreds of pages on very sensitive issues and everything remains classified. Documents cannot be taken out or copied. Either you read them here, or you don’t read them. Violating the constraints of secrecy is a crime punishable by up to five years of imprisonment, with an increased penalty if the perpetrator is a parliamentary ».
Copasir members must be “appointed within 20 days of the start of each term” but it is an unenforceable obligation …
“A vulnus has revealed itself to the test of the facts. The president must belong to the opposition by law and therefore it is necessary to wait for the formation of the government and the clear definition of the roles of majority and opposition, which in the Committee must be represented equally, five and five “.
Procedures that last months, in spite of 20 days?
“On average it takes about two and a half months, while in the current legislature it took even 4 months. The delicate point is that in the meantime the Committee receives numerous obligatory documents, which no representative of Parliament can receive and read ».
If a Prime Minister has to communicate the opposition of a state secret to whom is he addressed?
“At the offices of the Committee but there it lies without anyone being able to evaluate it within the time limits that the law requires. Legislative intervention is needed to regulate the transitional phase. Trusting in the “self-declaration” of the Chambers, it is possible to re-propose the model of the provisional council of elections or that of the special commission. But that’s not all… ».
What do you mean?
«As soon as the Chambers are dissolved, ordinary business ends. If we add this semi-inactivity, up to 90 days, to the 120 potential at the beginning of the term, we arrive at a possible total of 210 days: seven months of suspension! The law is clear: it imposes a “systematic and continuous” control activity on Copasir ».
Are sensitive news covered up “legally”?
“There is a question of national security. We do not know if the war will be over next year or if the threat will spread to other fronts. As a representative of an opposition party today, but probably of government in the next legislature and aware of the parliamentary guarantee functions, I believe it is right to take on the problem of a full functionality of the Committee whose leadership by law will always belong to the opposition. Whoever represents the institutions, our lighthouse must only be the national interest ».