10 May 2008

Respect for the voters

Here is one of my interviews, as printed in today’s edition of La Repubblica, regarding the current situation regarding politics within the opposition.

Antonio Di Pietro: The pact with the Democratic Party? It will only be broken if they throw us out. Not on the basis of the shadow government or the chairmanship of the RAI Vigilance Committee. All we are hearing are provocative statements. I am asking myself whether Veltroni is wanting to head up only the Democratic Party or the coalition as a whole because, if this is so, the Italia dei valori party is strong enough to go it alone.

Repubblica: Marco Follini says: Di Pietro out of the alliance, the Udc in.
Antonio Di Pietro: Let’s put it this way, today is the day that the Berlusconi government has been sworn in and we of the Italia dei valori party are concerned about this, above all else. We are saying that the new executive clearly displays the personal touch of the premier himself, above all in the certain important areas such as Communications, which does not even have its own Ministry, and Justice, which has been entrusted to one of the Cavaliere’s closest allies, whose Curriculum Vitae contains little else in his favour. We will refrain from commenting any further, however, as regards certain other issues, we will not allow ourselves to be overcome by any preconceptions.

Repubblica: Are you saying that you will be voting with the Government in certain cases?
Antonio Di Pietro: If they are able to find the necessary resources in order to eliminate Local Property Taxes or to increase salaries, to name but two examples, then we will most certainly support them.

Repubblica: We were talking about Follini.
Antonio Di Pietro: Every day we read certain provocations, which we refuse to dignify with any response. We made a deal with the voters, more so than with the Democratic Party. There is a leader of the coalition, which we acknowledge, however, should he persist in considering only his own party, then he must accept accountability for these actions.

Repubblica: But was it not precisely you that broke the pact by refusing to be part of a united group in Parliament?
Antonio Di Pietro: They make the rules and we, who obtained 43 seats in Parliament, cannot be independent? Please let’s be serious... And furthermore, every step in the process regarding the groups was discussed and agreed with the Democratic Party.

Repubblica: And yet you have not been consulted as regards the shadow government, nor as regards the chairmanship of the RAI Vigilance Committee, something that is very close to your heart.
Antonio Di Pietro: We are waiting for some sign, a signal of some sort. However, we are not about to break our alliance with them, even should we be left out in the cold. We have the strength to go it alone, this is true, but we are not prepared to betray the voters. Our commitment to them remains unchanged. I am sorry if this upsets anyone who was expecting some sort of retribution against the Democratic Party.

Repubblica: So, does this mean that you are giving up the fight?
Antonio Di Pietro: Absolutely not.

Repubblica: How should the RAI Vigilance Committee be managed?
Antonio Di Pietro: Certainly not along the lines of the Petruccioli model. We have already given enough as regards the “buddy-boy” decisions that were made in the past, which left us with an information system that is skewed and with ongoing conflicts of interest. Guarantees do not imply “a piece for me and one for you”, but rather they involve complying with European Laws. We refuse to stand idly by in this regard and, in early June, we will be going to the Euro Parliament to lodge a complaint regarding the Italian regulations. We certainly cannot realistically expect Gasparri himself to resolve the problems of the Gasparri Law...

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Politics