March 31, 2007

Council of Ministers. The State is Saving Money

Text:

"Today not much was discussed at the Council of Ministers. But we did however do something important. We had an in-depth discussion on the edge of the meeting between myself, Padoa Schioppa, Bersani, Bianchi and Letta. We talked about the matter relating to the revoking of the concessions to the company that is concerned with the High Speed Train (TAV) in our country.
In 1990, the task of constructing the TAV and the TAC (High Capacity Trains) in the whole of Italy was assigned to a single company, without a tendering process. From that moment the costs have increased by 3 or 4 times what was initially estimated.
However, with liberalization, we have decided that from now on, all work will have a tendering process: whoever makes the offer that is best in terms of costs and quality will win the contract.
What happened? Have you read the daily papers this week? They bought pages in the newspapers, Corriere, Repubblica, il Sole 24 ore. They spent so much money to say that it’s our fault that this work will not go ahead. That we want to block everything while they were doing so much. This work has been going on since 1990.
We want to have the work done, but with a tendering process so that you can understand who offers the best price and service. Today I have shown my proposal to the colleagues I mentioned earlier. It was accepted and it will be taken to a discussion at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers.
It will be a very important discussion. We will really understand who wants this work to go ahead and who wants it to collapse, as these companies have done up until now and who now garner the energies of their workers and use money to write in the newspapers to make the citizens believe that we want to block the work.
This is my proposal: Let’s start with the first stretch, the Treviglio-Brescia that is the most important of the whole high speed project still to be built, for which 2,700,000,000 has been proposed.
Within three months the definitive project will be completed and I will put the contract out to tender for 2,000,000,000. If I’m successful, will I have acted in the interests of the citizens or not? And if I’m successful in the space of a few months, does that mean that I want the work to be done or not?
The work can be done with lower costs, by asking for tenders for the contract straight away and with a project that resolves problems and allows us to recover the time lost and to save 700 million Euro. At the next Council of Ministers I will present the project, I will explain it and we’ll see if anyone has anything to say about it.
It’s possible to get things done and to do them well without stealing money from the Italians."

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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March 29, 2007

The False statements of the Associazione Imprese Generali

The measure revoking the TAV arrangements, made in private negotiations by the previous government, is neither illegitimate nor arrogant as claimed in the open letter published on payment by the Associazione Imprese Generali (AGI) in some of the press.
The problem, for the stretches whose arrangements have been revoked, is not in the tender arrangements for the work, but in finding the more than 12,000,000,000 Euro needed. Placing the attention on other matters is useless.
This is what I and the Minister for Economic Development, Pierluigi Bersani have made clear in reply to AGI’s letter published in Il Corriere della Sera, Il Sole 24 ore and La Repubblica.
The letter says that the action of revoking will put off the completion of the work and make Italy lose out on contributions from the European Union of more than 2,000,000,000, that it will discourage investment of foreign capital in Italy and expose the country to the risk of being marginalized in a European context.
They are statements that are simply false.
Making the work open to competition will not mean that time is lost, because the tender process can be held in the time period still needed to finance these infrastructures.
The idea of losing the Community finance is an instrumental threat as the contributions available for our country have already been allocated.
Clear rules and transparent competitions can only attract investors, Italian and foreign, who will finally be in a condition to compete on an equal footing with the current monopolies.
We only risk being marginalized in Europe if we continue to stay outside of European rules and procedures and accepting costs for public works that are not comparable to those common in Europe.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Accurate information
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March 28, 2007

Conflict of interests and democracy

Conflict of interests is a threat to democracy. In particular in relation to news. Silvio Berlusconi became President of the Council just because of his TV channels and his newspapers.

Every citizen in a situation of conflict of interests must not be a candidate. They must not be electable. The government must energetically propose a law on the conflict of interests that is real, not warm flannels or smoke in the eyes of the electors.

The parliamentary law that was approved by the centre right would not have got through if the citizens had been truly informed. It is a liberticidal law that has pushed aside the electors preventing them from a direct choice of candidate and it has weakened the winning coalition creating instability in the Senate.

It is the Mediaset electoral law, made to measure for its shareholders.
How many laws have been approved thanks to the media coverage of the former President of the Council? Do we want to remember the ‘ad personam’ laws, the ex Cirielli, the Pecorella? And to whom do we owe the weakening of the Justice System? Just think about it. We owe it to ‘ad personam’ news, to a gigantic conflict of interests, possible, among all democratic countries, only in Italy.

This is why, in the Government’s schedule, a serious set of rules regarding the conflict of interests must get the priority over all priorities. Italia dei Valori will fight for this, even with public initiatives that I will very soon be informing you about. In Italy, information is not free. It is headed up by private interests. Everyone knows that. But it certainly is not a good reason to continue to tolerate this situation.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Politics
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March 27, 2007

The matter of housing policy

Here we are again, friends, with the Friday appointment, this time without the Council of Ministers, but still with many topics for discussion.
As regards my Ministry, we have opened up a new important direction, that does not relate just to bricks and mortar, but also to solidarity, assistance, defence of the weakest groups of people in society, safety in the big cities, safety of the citizens: the matter of housing policy.

There is a big problem in Italy. This is especially true since the law blocking rents ran out of time. Let’s be clear. I’m in favour of liberalisation. It’s true that whoever buys a house cannot stay blocked for the rest of their lives. But it’s also clear that, whoever has no house cannot stay in this condition for the rest of their lives.
We have to meet the needs, together with the Local Authorities, the Regions and the local bodies, without showing favouritism.

At the Ministry of Infrastructure I have found many resources, a matter of 2,000,000,000 Euro that are unused because they are blocked by appeals and counter-appeals or procedural questions. For some time now in Italy, it seems that for anyone who wants to have an enterprise or anyone who wants to be in politics, the first thing they do is to go to the judge. Our country has become a single mess of litigation. Well, in these months, I have unblocked the funds and I am proud to be able to say that for some weeks now I have started, city by city, region by region, to allocate the money. Real money. Not promises. Milan, Naples, Rome, and the day after tomorrow to Turin and so on.

For a few hundred towns we have taken measures to have joint finance initiatives for the restoration of buildings in a bad state of repair in the suburbs, of buildings that are blocked and so cannot be rented out by the local authorities to those most in need. I believe that this has been a solid intervention: the famous "Quartiere 2" contracts. This has been talked about for years, and finally by Easter, all this money will be paid out.

Another law set aside 1,000,000,000 but this was blocked. And we are taking measures to distribute this as well to Milan, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Bari, Genoa.

But the most important thing that we are doing is to start off a new housing plan. We have written a law and I have taken on the honour and the duty to be the coordinator to get recognition of the housing needs of all the cities. I am insisting that we are not just talking of aspirations, but that time scales are laid down, that we have a timed programme laid down by law. This has been accepted. Within two months, starting from February, all the towns must give an indication of their housing needs

Within three months we must make up a group together with all the associations in the category so that we can write a law to reorganise all the housing needs in the territory. By June the Government and the Ministry of the Economy, must identify the resources and have a law ready to take to Parliament.

A timed-programme, as I said, that I intend to follow. I have already set the date of 17 April for the setting up of this grouping. I have already identified the generalities of the text. For example, there will be a measure to ensure that in all the cities, all properties belonging to the social protection agencies that are empty and not rented out must be sold to the local authorities at the same price and with the same privileges laid down for the tenants who have the “right to buy”.

There are hundreds of thousands of buildings in all cities belonging to the social protection agencies that are empty or even abandoned because of lack of maintenance. The law already allows these properties to be sold to the tenants, who however do not have the money to buy them. Why do we just have to have financial speculation and not give the Local Authorities the same right to buy as the tenant? In this way the local authorities can if they want to, buy that property at a just and fair price and make it available to the people as is right and proper?

This is just one of the numerous examples. Why do the buildings to be acquired by the Local Authorities to be used for public housing for the weakest sectors of society have to be taxed and to have sales tax applied?
It is a measure that hinders the creation of a stock of properties owned by the Local Authorities to make available to the people who are most in need. There you are: This is the responsible federalism.
This is what we are concerned with: by the end of this year we want to complete this important commitment that is in the manifesto programme but that is hardly discussed.

A Ministry of Infrastructure, thus, that is not just thinking of making roads and railways, as it has been accused, but that is thinking of showing solidarity and defending the weakest members of society.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Society
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March 24, 2007

Afghanistan

The liberation of Mastrogiacomo has been a victory for the Taliban and a defeat for us. We must learn the lesson from this happening. We need to set down clear rules for ourselves and then respect them.

Certainly the life of the hostage must be our top priority. And I am proud that my government took on the responsibility for the freeing of Mastrogiacomo. But the joy on a personal level is accompanied by the humiliation as a member of the executive.

The problem comes earlier. Everything is good when it comes to saving a human life and it seems useless to be polemic. Strada’s intervention was necessary and at the same time it was not sufficient. The unknown work carried on by our services is to be appreciated more.

In relation to Parisi, I believe that he is experiencing the same sense of humiliation that I too have felt as we had to give way. Our soldiers must face up to the enemy adequately. Otherwise they do better to stay at home.

In relation to Parisi, I believe that he is experiencing the same sense of humiliation that I too have felt as we had to give way. Our soldiers must face up to the enemy adequately. Otherwise they do better to stay at home.

Italia dei Valori will vote respecting the commitment made with the government. I hope that the same sense of responsibility will be demonstrated by all those who have given their vote of confidence to Prodi.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Politics
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March 22, 2007

Companies and Tax

This government’s Budget and tax measures are producing good results.
However I consider the tightening of the tax regime for those who already pay taxes to be unjust and contrary to the rekindling of the country’s economy and in fact to be an incentive for capital and production activities to flee the country. Unfortunately there are numerous examples.
One of these is the decision to retroactively make the cost of a company car not deductible. Thus the companies with a fleet of cars must commit to “pay back” to the coffers of the State for the years of deductibility that they have made use of.
This measure and others aimed at ‘punishing’ the honest tax payer instead of taking action to unveil the true tax dodgers leads to only a temporary benefit, with a series of negative consequences: suffering and even closure of the companies with low levels of liquidity and with little access to credit, indebtedness to the banks for those that are more solid, lowering of the levels of regular employment as an employee, flight of our entrepreneurs from the country.
In fact certain tax measures deliver companies into the hands of the banks. The objective of Italia dei Valori is certainly not to give unilateral strengthening to the banking system and to weaken the entrepreneurial structures, but rather to strengthen the economy and attract investment from abroad.
Italia dei Valori will take action to see that certain measures are revised. The Tax Office cannot allow itself to only be strong with those who are honest and to ignore tax dodgers.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Economy
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March 20, 2007

Economics and Politics

It’s time that the entrepreneurs stop always blaming politics for everything that doesn’t work. Accusing politicians at one moment of being weak and then of wanting to be a substitute for the industrial class. And I’m referring in particular to a recent speech by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, President of the Confindustria.
In recent years we have seen the emergence of too many clever clogs of the neighbourhood. The entrepreneurs who have picked up the public companies that have been privatized have dedicated themselves more to doing finance than to doing industry. We have seen too many finance plans and not enough industry plans.
Too many of them have picked up important public assets, strategic for the development of the country and they have created massive financial speculations, giving enormous returns, often to the detriment of the consumer or at least with no advantage to the latter nor to the general interest.
I believe that the time has come for even the Confindustria to open up a phase of serene self criticism, instead of continuing to give lessons around the place.
Politics does not want to and should not act as an entrepreneur. But it has the duty to regulate certain sectors that are really important for our economy, even remedying errors made at the time of the privatizations and putting the interests of tax payers and consumers above all else.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in
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March 18, 2007

Alliances Based on Programme Contents

I want to reassure Italia dei Valori voters. I have no intention to merge with the UDC nor with the UDEUR, nor with Casini nor with Mastella. UDC and UDEUR are positioned at the centre of Italian politics and in this sense, it is possible to say that there is affinity in terms of the electorate. That’s all.
Italia dei Valori however is more interested in the contents of the programme, rather than in the old definitions of left, centre and right. Definitions that no longer have meaning.
Whoever shares our objectives of the rule of law and the innovation of the country will be our ally. If our positions on the electoral laws are shared by the UDC, UDEUR, Lega Nord, Margherita and the other parties, then there will be an actual alliance based on the contents.
I believe that Italia dei Valori can and must walk with its own legs and place itself in time as an alternative to the party system that is putting the brakes on the development of our country.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Politics
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March 17, 2007

Council of Ministers. The reform of criminal trials.

Text:
“There’s some good news: Minister Padoa Schioppa has presented the so-called quarterly cash report that is an analysis of the revenues coming into the government coffers in these months and the money going out for the needs of the State. It’s a useful tool to check up on the public finances. The public debt is on the road to going down. This is positive. The government measures in these months have given fruit and the debt is lower and thus there is the expectation of a better economic position. The fiscal revenues: an extra 8,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000 Euro extra have come into the State coffers, more than the amount forecast in the last Budget. We have discussed and continue to discuss even in Parliament, how to use this money. My opinion starts from a fact: if there is an increase in the amount coming in it means that there are people who have paid taxes. Thus the first to benefit should be those who pay taxes. I believe that there is already the information available to make a reduction in the tax burden, so that citizens can understand that if all pay taxes then everyone can save. This therefore is my proposal. An important decision taken today, relates to the reform of civil court proceedings. This time, even Mastella found he was in agreement with me. In relation to this measure, there’s been a strong commitment from Italia Dei Valori, thanks to the Undersecretary for Justice in that Ministry who is writing certain regulations for the reform of criminal trials, that will be discussed next week. We need to approve some norms to reduce the time frames of trials and to eliminate the many procedural appeals, the many exceptions to confuse things that are so often raised. The measure approved today contains a commitment of that kind. Another measure approved relates to the actions needed to stop the so-called Saturday night slaughters. These happen every week, especially among the young. With forty to fifty victims. It has been decided to take action in many ways: with repression and the increase in the penalties for those who commit offences, and in the field of regulations. There has been much debate, but a single solution has not been found on the limit of the alcohol level beyond which someone is considered to be inebriated. Initially it was proposed 0.2 grams of alcohol, half a glass of wine. But there’s the risk of saying everything and nothing. Half a glass of wine together with an ecstasy tablet is different from half a glass with a meal. This is why we have delegated the task of finding this figure to a technical team. We have also taken action to reinforce controls on the street and through the Minister of Youth Policies, on the distribution of information and highway code education, particularly at school, for the young people who are getting their driving licence but also for younger ones. This is the picture of today’s decisions. But there was a heavy atmosphere in the Council of Ministers. Often the President of the Council and the Minister of Foreign Affairs had to go out and we all understood that the reason was the negotiations, with the urgency and the necessary actions, for the liberation of the journalist Mastrogiacomo. We are all in support of the President of the Council Prodi, and of Minister D'Alema so that we can bring Mastrogiacomo back home before it is too late. “

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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March 15, 2007

Handing Over Telecom Italia

Pirelli has put up for sale its 18% portion of Telecom Italia. It’s the final episode in a privatization that started off badly by getting the company into debt and finishing off worse.
The revenue, the employment, the international presence, the participation of the biggest Italian companies have all been impoverished by a series of entrepreneurs who have not put up the capital.
In a few years we have seen Agnelli, Gnutti, Colaninno, Tronchetti Provera, and Benetton in turn with results completely below those of the preceding public management of the company even though that was criticized.
Telecom is strategic for the development of the country and certainly we cannot allow Pirelli to have an auction in the dark, to the best offer, put forward by whoever, without checking up on the position of employment and on the strategies that this choice can imply.
In the last few years we have seen a company that has handed out almost all its dividends to its shareholders, maintaining and increasing its own debt and thus putting off necessary investments. A behaviour that seems to me to be showing a lack of responsibility.
Telecom is an example of how privatizing without rules and without limitations leads only to a worsening of the service and the impoverishment of the system in the country. I hope that these experiences can serve as a lesson for the future.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Economy
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March 14, 2007

Stop Increases in Motorway Tolls

I’m publishing my interview with la Repubblica about halting increases in motorway tolls.

ADP: For years the motorway tolls have been increasing and no one has been raising the point. All the increases have been recognised even though the investments have been missing. The causes can be discovered in the way these monopolies were handed over, and also in the behaviour of the parties, including those in the majority coalition, who are recipients of generous donations, no doubt that they are legal, handed out by Autostrade on the eve of previous elections. To increase the tolls each year was a way of proceeding that was never written anywhere. The tolls have gone up even in the absence of those duties that the management are bound to carry out, that we have valued to be about 3,800,000,000 Euro.

Repubblica: What do you think Minister? Yet more legal proceedings?
ADP: Do they want to go ahead? To have a war with me? Let them do just that. Do you know how many cases I’ve seen in my career that started off and then went crooked? Think of one above all: Clean Hands started off exactly liked that, from the denunciation of a journalist who wrote an article that was not pleasing. That triggered the action for defamation and I went right to the bottom of it.

Repubblica: According to ISTAT statistics in the10 years from 1997, the tolls have increased by 31.4% compared to inflation of 23%. That surely is someone’s fault.
ADP: The fault is in the way chosen to do the privatization, transferring such an important monopoly. The procedures should have been flanked by a much more complex formula to revise the agreements. And I have done nothing more than to intervene in the system of concessions.

Repubblica: That 3,800,000,000 Euro that is missing, what should it have been used for?
ADP: For example to carry out the work to improve the network: in certain cases we’re talking of the lack of the construction of a fourth lane or of important exit roads. Work that could improve the life of the motorist. We are talking of a monopoly where the concessionaires have asked for and obtained almost everything they asked for . That’s enough now.

Repubblica: Have you encountered resistance within the government? Basically, has it been difficult to put a stop to the increases?
ADP: There was a great moment of confrontation with the executive. Anyway the whole government came round to being behind my decisions. And no one has questioned my approach. The problem is certainly not there…..

Repubblica: Well where is it then?
ADP: Most of the resistance is hidden in the party system which has risen up as a result of pressure from this lobby.

Repubblica: How can that be explained?
ADP: Many parties have been generously financed during the last elections…

Repubblica: You are talking of Autostrade, that gave different generous contributions, absolutely legal, to the parties. With rare exceptions: for example the Green Party and the PRC refused the contributions.
ADP: Yes. They even sent a donation to me. But I sent it back.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Economy
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March 12, 2007

Anno Zero for News

The most recent transmission of Santoro’s “Anno Zero” was dedicated to the DICO { DICO = "DIritti e doveri delle persone stabilmente COnviventi" = Rights and duties of stable cohabiting couples}. Among those present were some citizens who openly declared their homosexuality, among these a mayor (who has been elected many times) and his companion. In the room there was also a government representative who at a certain point in the debate, following a 21 year old’s observations, made in a polite way and without offensive behaviour, decided to abandon the transmission without caring about those present or those watching on TV.
His exit was greeted with a long applause of freedom. The programme presenter then commented on: “the arrogance of politics” that removes itself from facing up to a discussion with the citizens.
In the days that followed, affirmations of solidarity with the fleeing Minister arrived from many parties among which was Forza Italia. Through the mouth of Berlusconi, they thundered against “the unworthy attack” and “the attack against the moderates and the Church”.
Claudio Cappon, director general of the RAI, has asked for a meeting with Michele Santoro and Antonio Marano, the director of RAI 2 to discuss “principles of impartiality and completeness of information in public service”.
We are obliged to offer solidarity to Santoro and to start the reform of the radio TV system that is today under the ownership of Berlusconi and the parties. Politicians are not an elected race. They are at the service of the citizens and they must respond to their questions.
We advise Cappon to busy himself with other matters instead of calling to order a journalist who does his job. Let him look to the citizens rather than to the politicians.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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March 10, 2007

Council of Ministers: Electoral Law

Text:

“March 8th is International Women’s Day. So I send my greetings and respect also from Italia dei Valori, with the commitment to create the conditions so that women can express their full potential.
With reference to women in politics I want to talk about a topic that is now of interest to the media and will be in the next few months: the electoral law. And I would add: the transparency and morality of those who make up the institutions, starting with Parliament.
In a representative democracy like ours, we have to delegate to some people the management of the Public Good, starting with the Local Authorities, and going on to the Provinces, the Regions the Italian Parliament and the European Parliament. Thus it comes spontaneously to reaffirm what has been said many times by Beppe Grillo in his Blog: those who represent the citizens are their employees and must therefore give an account of their activities.
Today, we find a break down in the relationship of trust between those who are represented and their representatives because the electoral law is such that the citizens only have a formal duty: to put a cross on the symbol of a party that they think could be OK for ideological reasons, because of their programme manifesto or because within that party there’s a person that they like. Whoever is elected, however, is not a person chosen directly by the elector but by the secretary of the party.
The first thing to be done to correct this anomaly is to allow the citizens to express their preference and to choose their own candidates.
There’s even an issue before that: who chooses the candidates? Here again it is the secretary of the party. This shows us the need for Primaries. Thus what is needed is an electoral law that gives the citizen the possibility to be a judge and to vote for their own representatives and to send them home when they are no longer wanted. But people are prone to presenting only their good points and not their defects.
Thus, we need to establish a rule of morality. Exclusion from being elected. We in Italia dei Valori want to take this forward: people who have been convicted, at least for crimes that are serious, cannot be candidates.
Furthermore, even though Italia dei Valori is a tiny party, we want an end to the proliferation of parties even if it means we disappear, if that is necessary. What’s needed is an electoral law that reduces the political fragmentation.
Once more, we want the citizen to be able to choose the candidate to be leader. It’s not acceptable that the party that is chosen then goes with others and adopts policies that are different from those for which they were elected.
The coalitions must be identified before the elections, not after.
In relation to this, we also want it to be made impossible for an elected person to fly away to the other side. Citizens trust a person. If this person betrays them they must be declared no longer elected because they are not acting in the interests of their employers.
These are going to be the battles that I and Italia dei Valori will be fighting in the next few months in Parliament and in the country. To have a new set of people at the top with clean hands, who can be chosen by the voters and who have new faces, not just new logos.”

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Information
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March 08, 2007

Electoral Law and Convicts

I haven’t forgotten. During the election campaign I inserted the following into my programme:
”Prevent the candidature for election to the Lower House, the Upper House and the European Parliament of people who have been convicted.”
Recently, we have been discussing the new electoral law. Whether to have a referendum, a broad agreement or agreements with variable geometry.
Even the experts have difficulty in getting an exact understanding of what is being discussed. I would like to start with the head of the problem and not the tail: with the parliamentarians, of the women and men who represent the citizens. People who are paid to act in the interest of the nation, not in their own interests , and certainly not in the interests of the parties to which they belong.

Two things above all must be guaranteed in the next elections:
- the representativeness of the parliamentarian who must be elected by the citizens and not inserted in a closed list, according to a party meritocracy.
- the morality of the parliamentarian who must not have been convicted. How can we present ourselves to the country with a platoon of convicts elected to Parliament?

Italia dei Valori has presented to both the Lower and the Upper House, a draft of a law to absolutely prevent convicted people from being present in the electoral lists. In relation to this, what’s needed is strong support from public opinion.. From all of you.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Society
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March 03, 2007

Buying and Selling Votes

Text:
“The government that I am part of has gained the vote of confidence from the Lower House and the Upper House. Thus today is a day of satisfaction but also of responsibility. It’s gone OK like that, but tomorrow we need to demonstrate that we deserve this vote of confidence. This is what I, for myself and for Italia dei Valori, am committed to.
Certainly we had a lucky break especially in the Upper House, the Senate, with voting of 158 to 156 among the voters. Thus even one vote less would have been enough to not give us the political majority.
We were lucky because I know there were attempts to buy the odd vote. Lots of people talked about this, even though there seemed to be accusations against each side without a firm basis.
However there is the solid fact and irony of the outcome. It has put forward the first political “Judas”: De Gregorio who was a candidate with the Centre Left actually in the party of Italia dei Valori in the lists of Italians in the World. He made a political agreement with the party. He was presented to me as a person who could make a contribution. I placed my trust in him and I made a mistake.
This gentleman, as soon as he entered Parliament, sold his political soul for the position of President of the Defence Commission. He sold the vote of those who elected him and the trust placed in him.
But the most serious thing is that just recently he has been “plotting” to find other “companions” to follow him in his adventures. He contacted another senator, trying to buy his favours politically, promising more than the limit of the skies in terms of money.
Luckily, not everyone is like him. There are honest people who faced with such responsibilities felt it appropriate to inform the Institutions. Thus I came to know about this and I carried out my duty by informing the competent authorities. Is that a tiny nasty example of bad politics?
I invite you to reflect: Can a Parliament, a Government, a political body be governed on the basis of political opportunism and personal convenience?
We need a regulation that allows for the termination of office for political traitors.
We need a regulation saying that someone elected in a coalition who betrays their electorate, most be sent home. Otherwise every time that a single vote is to be the decider for an elected assembly it’s like the devil that tempts. If there’s no morality, there’s no politics.
We need to bring back morality into politics. But with rules that prevent the immoral from doing politics.”

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Politics
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March 01, 2007

Italia dei Valori in Second Life

I have decided to open a space for Italia dei Valori on the Internet in Second Life.
Second Life is an area of virtual reality that allows you to create a parallel world. In Second Life it’s possible to define areas for meeting up and for communications for the most varied of reasons: politics, social, economics.
The last conference of the World Economic Forum in Davos also took place in Second Life where an environment similar to the real one was constructed. Recently the Swedish Government has announced the opening of a Virtual Consulate in Second Life to provide information and services. Many international companies have their own offices and exhibition areas.
For the moment I have purchased an island and planted the banner of Italia dei Valori. On the initiative of Italia dei Valori, the island will soon be fitted out with offices, conference centres and information points.
In the future, visitors to the island will be welcomed by Italia dei Valori personnel through their virtual representation. The island will also be used for internal meetings and for meeting with journalists.

Postato da Antonio Di Pietro in Politics
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