14 August 2006

24 – Tangentopoli at its starting point

Today I’m concluding the publication of some questions and answers from the book "Intervista su Tangentopoli" published by Laterza and edited by Giovanni Valentini.

GV: It’s years since the beginning of Clean Hands. How do you now see the situation for Tangentopoli?
ADP: Clean Hands was a technical and judicial operation that produced a great reawakening of consciences. Many people took courage and many cultivated a hope for cleanliness. Then there was a block. The courage dwindled and the hope was extinguished.
Now however, it’s not useful to look back. It’s better to look forward. Tangentopoli was the tip of an iceberg. For the future, the fight against corruption must become part of the habits, of the culture, an ethical-social commitment. So that the phenomenon doesn’t recur, we first need to educate and to take precautions to prevent it. But the good example can only come from the top. This is why we need a new political class. We need one that can perform a leadership function for the whole society.
GV: Tangentopoli, 21 September 2000: Nine people were arrested in Milan. Among these was the Regional Councillor of Forza Italia Massimo Guarischi. This was for the scandal of the contracts for “after the floods”. And at the same time, at Palermo, the enquiry into the “red co-ops” revealed presumed relationships between the mafia and companies connected to the PCI and PDS. What does this mean, Senator Di Pietro, for you and for all of us?
ADP: It means unfortunately that we are back at the starting point. In some cases, even with the same people that were appearing in the first Clean Hands enquiry. But from this point now we must start to liberate Italy - from Milan to Palermo – of the disease of corruption.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Interview about Tangentopoli