4/15/2013 by Sav D'Souza United Kingdom
An old Italian acquaintance in Rome once said to me "a spaghetti system that's the Italian system". He was referring to how politics works in Italy. Indeed Italy does seem to have an outstandingly complex political system which for which if anyone is really interested see Roger Darlington explanation but to be honest I'd recommend sticking pins in your eyes before I recommended checking out the inner workings of Italian politics.
To think of it in terms of transparency and accountability it's like a huge infrastructure of wires all tangled up. To unravel the mysterious of the system you would have to painstakingly remove all the knots to get a clearer picture of what the hell is going on and that's before you can start putting things right in a system that is creaking under the weight of endemic corruption.
The last Italian elections in February saw a real stand out performance by Beppe Grillo and the Five Star Movement who gained a quarter of the public vote. The success of Grillo and the FSM means that they now have a real say in parliament. For all its quirks a voting system which has allowed a comedian turned activist who used piazza gatherings and online media to get his message out to actually be a political entity with power. The FSM like the Pirates Party success are shaking up the old guard of politics with a glimpse of the possible future. Obama and the Arab Spring harnessed the power of social media and the web to great effect and the FSM has the potential to influence some needed changes.
Much of the International media coverage has focused on the tired cliché ridden dialogues of 'how bad the Italian political system is, how there are too many cooks, they can't make up their minds, are divided and ultimately it all leads to 'weak government', bla bla'. That the Italian system of governance has survived for so long is a testament to the same politicians coming to compromises in a self-perpetuating system that seems to benefit politicians most. The current 'stalemate' in forming a government has typically been described in the 'oh yeah that's Italian politics for you, crazy' but forgetting one important factor. Grillo and the FSM campaigned on rejecting all the old politicians who they said were the main thing wrong with the system. At the polls that's what a lot of Italians voted for a so a real mandate to the FSM and for change. Grillo has vocally denounced any deal with parties such as the Democratic Party and the Freedom People Party of Silvio Berlusconi as it would be against everything they stood for and a 'lie' to people who voted for him.
Politics is after all a game of compromises. In reality Italy has a hugely corrupt and many layered level of political executive which seem to benefit self-serving political elites whose only compromise is typically bribes and financial gain. So what happens when people deem the old system to be rotten to the core and require dismantling?
The current economic global crisis, which has had far reaching implications and in some cases devastating effects, has resulted in a resounding 'no confidence' in politicians to run economies effectively and balance resources and needs. A rage is coursing through Italy and much of Europe and the US angry at how traditional parties continue to operate. People are tired of continuing cycles of boom and bust and recession and want real alternatives. That's why the success of Beppe Grillo and the Five Star Movement was such a slap in the face not only to traditional Italian political parties but also to Brussels and increasingly Berlin where more and more power seems to be residing.
Silvio Berlusconi, with his media empire and ability to change laws to suit himself, had lead Italy for seventeen years. At the end Brussels and Berlin had to step in and oust Berlusconi and bring in the unelected Mario Monti before the new elections. It is an example of how much influence over policy is now being dictated by Germany. But Italians voted against Monti at the polls and at the heart of it is arguably a desire for a real change of politics.
People joke about the number of bureaucrats in Brussels but Italy is holding its own with its number of privileged and well paid politicians. But at a time when many Italians are paying the price of national debt repayments and forced cutbacks the public is calling time on Old Italian style politics.
Let's consider some startling facts highlighted by the excellent Scriptonite blog recently:
• Italy ranks 72nd out of 180 in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index. This puts the country below Ghana, Saudi Arabia and Lesotho.
• The Italian parliament costs twice as much to run as Britain, Germany, France and Spain combined.
• Italian politicians are also the highest paid in Europe, paid an average of £12,000 a month including expenses and perks, compared to French politicians on £4,769. The running costs of the presidential palace now run at four times that of Buckingham Palace and whilst public funding of political parties costs the German tax payer 89m Euros each year, it costs the Italian tax payer 270m.
If the high costs of just running Italian politics was not enough the last year has seen epic embezzling and shameful expropriating of public money as politicians smile and retire to their lavish villas and lifestyles.
Many see Italy's predicaments in purely terms of modernizing. Of course there are many forward looking issues that Italy must try and redress including gender equality but there are some important exceptions. My personal experience of observing Italian life is one of more values which centre around trying to achieve a good balanced work/life/family culture. This is worth trying to preserve compared to the fashionable western alternatives of longer working hours and greater urgency to produce and consume. How successful a country is in terms of GDP does not equate with other more important indicators of education, health and quality of life.
Far from being the 'basket case' political entity the success of Grillo in the last elections are showing that Italy could have the possibility of newer, fresher political parties changing the political landscape. There is an emerging intriguing element in Italian politics as many international observers will be watching closely to see how it plays out. The FSM has, in theory anyway, real power now to ask for changes in moving forward. Looking to the future considering how successful the FSM have been in a short period of time, their radical manifesto ideas which clicked with so many voters and their success of online campaigning could just be making old school politicians in Italy and elsewhere just a little nervous.
Sav D'Souza is Editor-in-Chief of Just A Platform, an international cultural platform. www.justaplatform.com
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4/15/2013
4/15/2013
