15 June 2007

The end of the line for Parliamentary Privileges

I’m publishing a letter from Silvana Mura, a deputy with Italia dei Valori.
“Following the wave of unpopularity that has hit politics, all of a sudden all the parties seem to have rediscovered the topic of excess costs and the many privileges that there main players enjoy.
Nearly all the leaders have participated in the debate indicating this or that recipe, but at the moment, concrete solutions are not visible.
In the Commission for Constitutional Affairs in the Lower House, it has been decided to start a wide ranging fact-finding investigation before putting anything into action.
One may ask what there is to be found out and discovered on a topic like that of the cost of politics well known not just to those on the job but also to the citizens.
One could suspect that there’s an attempt to lengthen the time frames in the hope that with the passage of time the attention will fall off and everything can be left as it is now.
To do an in depth examination of complex arguments like institutional reform, or the rationalization of the public administration is definitely useful, but on everything that is a question of privilege like the pension for parliamentarians, or all the benefits that are set up, the response must be immediate.
Italia dei Valori has presented a draft law and if there is the will, this could be examined and voted on in the Lower and Upper Houses in a few months and come into force by 2008.

The most important points in our draft law are as follows:
1) Reform of the pensions for parliamentarians. The new system increases the number of years needed to get a pension and it reduces the amount paid. To have the right to a pension, a parliamentarian will have to have been in parliament for at least 10 years and they will get an income for life that is 25% of the salary.

2) Elimination of the benefits enjoyed by parliamentarians. Parliamentarians will no longer have the right to free travel on the motorways, the railways, ships and aircraft, nor will they have telephone expenses reimbursed. For all the items classed as expenses claimed (that are currently on the basis of an expense allowance) these will only be reimbursed on the submission of the appropriate official receipts and an explanation of the reason for that expenditure.

3) Publicising and transparency of the balance sheets. The balance sheets of the Lower House, the Upper House, the Quirinale but also of the Constitutional Court and of CNEL must be made public and accessible to all the citizens.

4) No privileges for those who are no longer in post. Once the Presidents of the Lower and Upper Houses and of the Constitutional Court cease to have their position, they will no longer have the right to benefits that they currently enjoy (official blue cars, secretaries, offices and expenses)

5) A slimmer government with fewer Ministries. It is established that the total number of Ministries forming the government cannot be more than 17. The total number of people in the whole government including vice ministers and undersecretaries cannot be more than 72 (currently the total is 102).

6) Abolition of public funding of all party publications. As well as these points that alter the privileges that are the most shameful and most objectionable for the public, there are a series of regulations to reduce the spending of government and of local bodies, to put a cap on the use of and payment to consultants by local administration.

These are simple measures that will impact on the phenomenon and situations that everyone knows about and they must be voted on urgently.”

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Reducing the costs of politics
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31 December 2006

Controlling the cost of public expenditure

Criticism of the Finance law particularly by foreign economic newspapers has been mainly about the failure to reduce the cost of public expenditure.
The containment of the costs of the State machinery is an absolute necessity to restore competitiveness to the system that is this country.
This is why the Ministry of Infrastructure is planning a reduction of the expenditure of about 40.6% of the total that was previously spent by the administration.
The cut in costs has been communicated by the Ministry of the Economy, to put into practice the regulations for the containment and the rationalization of public spending laid down in last July’s Bersani-Visco decree that was converted into a law in August.
The aim of the regulation is to proceed to the solid action of reducing public expenditure by means of the suppression of organisations that are no longer useful and the elimination of organizational duplication within the Ministry of Infrastructure. The result goes beyond the threshold of 30 per cent that was laid down.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Reducing the costs of politics
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5 December 2006

Capping the cost of politics

Italia dei Valori has taken action so that the Finance Law can contain an important package of regulations. A package that contains the rationalization of the costs of politics, the elimination of waste, the reduction of the pockets of inefficiency and privilege that still remain within our political system
The regulations that we are putting forward fix an upper limit to the payments made to those who are active, directly or indirectly, in politics. In particular the golden salaries of public managers, of ministers and of undersecretaries.
Many of these regulations have already been approved in the Lower House.
I have been told that for technical reasons the regulation fixing an upper limit on payments received by politicians at the level of villages, towns and cities, provinces, areas and mountain communities has been excluded. These upper limits need to be reduced by at least a third.
This regulation has been presented another time to the Upper House.
On this point that is crucial to our commitment, we will fight to the end in the Upper House.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Reducing the costs of politics
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26 November 2006

The cost of politics

During the election campaign, one of the points of Italia dei Valori’s election manifesto was to limit the cost of politics.

Italia dei Valori has presented 3 amendments to the Finance law to reduce the waste in politics.
The only amendment that has been accepted fixes a limit on the salary and the final payments to public managers who are often sent away with millions of Euro after a failed management situation.
Two other amendments to modify the current regulations on election expenses to the parties have been turned down by all the parties - those in the majority grouping and those in opposition.
The first asked that the count for election expenses to the parties should be done on the basis of actual votes cast (and thus to reduce the numbers) and not, as now, on the number having the right to vote.
Today the parties receive, according to the results in the different elections, a percentage of 4 Euro per Italian citizen with the right to vote for each year of a parliament: One Euro for the elections to the Lower House, One Euro for the Upper House (Senate), one Euro for the Regional elections and one Euro for the European elections.
The second amendment was to abolish the regulation that allows for money to be paid to the parties if there are early elections, for double the value. One for the interrupted term of office and one for the new one.
Italia dei Valori is apparently the only party in Parliament looking to reduce waste and the privileges of politicians. In reality, it is representing all Italian citizens, not just those that voted for it.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Reducing the costs of politics
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