9 August 2008

Flashbulb security

The holiday period may well be upon us, however, politics cannot afford to go on holiday because, while the citizens are away on holiday, someone is bound to take advantage and try to slip through a few more little legal provisions. That is why we, the Only Opposition, will continue to keep you informed with regard to what is boiling in the pot, holidays or no holidays.
Please allow me to highlight a couple of issues, amongst the many, which are dear to our hearts. One of these is an issue that has already begun and is still ongoing, while the other is one that is about to begin. I am referring to the use of the armed forces to ensure security in the cities, and here I refer to what is being planned for the Expo, namely, a huge gathering of all the best achievements in the fields of entrepreneurship, engineering and quality that can be achieved worldwide, in other words, the future: how do we build it and who is busy doing so now. These are two important issues that are close to our heart and that we want to make you think about.
Let’s begin by looking at the issue of security. It is one thing to talk about security, while ensuring real, day-to-day security is totally another. You cannot claim to be providing greater security in the streets when you have just proceeded to cut security funding by some 3 billion Euro. All you are doing is “pretending” or perhaps “trying to prove a point”, but you are certainly not improving security. That is why we have been so critical of late, and we want to reiterate these criticisms and, together with you, reflect on the fraud that is being perpetrated by resorting to the use of the military, and this is not in any way because we are against the military.
If we were forced to choose between a soldier and a delinquent, would there be any question regarding which we would choose? We respect our military and we don’t want to see them involved in any play-acting. Heaven forbid! “Hats off” to our soldiers, but we shouldn’t be trying to pull a fast one on the citizens by deploying a mere 3000 soldiers throughout the entire country, which amounts to a couple of hundred per Region, or one or two per town, which must then be partnered with a policeman and a member of the Carabinieri. This amounts to nothing more than showboating, with the actors freshly shaved and wearing new costumes. This is no way to tackle the problem. What is needed is some sort of day-to-day action to help in the daily battle against organised crime.
Our policemen no longer even have adequate uniforms to wear. They cannot even afford to gain or lose any weight whatsoever, because they only have their present uniforms to wear and there are no funds available to provide them with any new ones. Are you aware of precisely what is envisaged in the new law regarding the use of the military? On the one hand they are saying that they want to use the military because there is a need for more personnel in order to successfully fight this battle. On the other hand, meanwhile, provision is being made for any policemen and Carabinieri squad members who have worked more than six hours of overtime to be given a day off in lieu of the overtime worked. I don’t understand this: is there or is there not a need for greater security? You are saying that there is a need, however, once every four days you proceed to give the people a day off in lieu of overtime worked, so all you are in fact doing is removing a number of security guards from the streets. Don’t cut the amount of personnel. Rather increase the personnel numbers and the financial resources allocated to security. That is our criticism.
Don’t let yourselves be fooled by a stirring image of a soldier marching through the imperial forums. A soldier is, and always will be entitled to arrest any thief that he may catch in the act, but the day-to-day battle against crime and the day-to-day need for security cannot be met by taking away 3 billion Euro and replacing it with mere smoke and mirrors.

The full version of the discussion will follow shortly.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Information