21 April 2008

25 April: for a new Liberation

On 25 April I will be in Milan. At 11 am I will be in Largo Cairoli to add my signature for the three referenda promoted by Beppe Grillo for the freedom of information.
Italia dei Valori is mobilizing in what we consider to be another important political battle to ensure that all citizens have the right to be well informed, to provide good information and to be informed as is laid down in the Constitution and as is not happening in Italy.
Here below, there’s a declaration that I have given about this initiative.

”Now that the moment of elections has passed, we of Italia dei Valori, and I personally, want to continue to bring our contribution in defence of legality, of transparency and in this case, of transparency, independence and plurality of information.
On 25 April there’s V Day, promoted by Beppe Grillo. Many people say that this is an anti-political action. There is nothing more crazy, because there is nothing that is more politically correct than that citizens, simple citizens, who on the same day, at the same time, come together in front of the stalls to collect signatures to repeal a law that they believe to be unconstitutional or that has gone out of date, or to present a popular initiative proposed law. The institution of the referendum and the institution of the popular initiative laws are laid down and guaranteed in the Constitution, and those who promote these are not performing anti-political actions but true politics. Anti-politics appertains to those who go into the institutions to get away, otherwise they would have to go to some prison, to those who call a “hero” the mafia people and those who put themselves forward as candidates to find a place in the sun for themselves and their loved ones.
Having said this, on 25 April there’s a collection of signatures to have an information system that is freer, more independent and more transparent. Eliminate public financing to the publishing industry, because there is an enormous waste of almost a billion euro, and above all because then, in fact, information is controlled by the party system and by the system of the strong powers. We want to eliminate the Order of Journalists, because since the beginning of time it doesn’t make sense that to write, speak or make known your ideas you have to be listed on a register and respect the organisms of the corporation with the logic of “if you are in the good circle you are admitted to be able to speak, otherwise not.” But this is not democracy and it’s not me saying it, but they were saying it (as Beppe Grillo has reminded us) Enaudi and Berlinguer. This law that set up the Order of Journalists is by now an antique, it is out of date and out of place, even because it started off from Mussolini with quite a different intention: to monitor the actions of the journalists and the freedom of information.
Finally, we want to eliminate the Gasparri law, because anyway, now that Berlusconi has won and even though the European Court of Justice has already pronounced a verdict against Italy on the law that was passed to assign TV frequencies, even though the Constitutional Court has reinforced the fact that this law is not constitutional, you can still be sure that with this government and with this majority the Gasparri law will not be repealed, but it will be modified appropriately to make legitimate what is illegitimate. It is better to repeal this law completely even before it is sealed with a pretext of legality.
These three activities are the first outing for Italia dei Valori since the elections, because we believe that politics has to be done with the citizens, among the citizens, asking for votes from the citizens. The structures of Italia dei Valori will make stalls available where signatures can be verified, in places where there are gaps, and everyone is invited to consult the lists of the towns where stalls will be set up by looking on Beppe Grillo’s blog so that they can go and add their signature.
Certainly, then it’ll be necessary to have the referenda, but I believe that one step at a time we have to take our country towards a true and complete democracy, now more than ever.”

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information