[D66] European Union presses for change of government in Italy
Antid Oto
protocosmos66 at gmail.com
Sat Nov 12 08:32:36 CET 2011
European Union presses for change of government in Italy
By Peter Schwarz
12 November 2011
Following the example of Greece, Italy is also likely to soon be ruled by a
technocratic government designated by the international banks. Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi has called a cabinet meeting for Saturday evening, at which he
is likely to tender his resignation. The favourite to succeed him is the
politically non-aligned economist and former EU Commissioner, Mario Monti.
Berlusconi announced on Tuesday evening that he would resign if the Italian
parliament adopted the austerity measures demanded by the EU. However, he did
not specify a date. The financial markets were dissatisfied with this vague
announcement, and on Wednesday interest rates for Italian bonds climbed to over
7 percent, making the refinancing of government debt virtually impossible.
The European Union also stepped up its pressure. The head of the European
bailout fund (EFSF), Klaus Regling, declared in an interview with European
newspapers that the country needed “a functioning government as quickly as
possible”. Italy had run “out of time to calm the markets”, he warned.
The Italian Parliament then stated it was willing to adopt the austerity package
in summary proceedings. The package includes job cuts in the public sector, the
deregulation of the labour market, and social cuts. Experts agree that these
measures are only the prelude to further cuts.
On Friday, the Senate agreed to the austerity package by 156 votes to twelve. On
Saturday it is expected that the House of Representatives will follow suit. This
would pave the way for Berlusconi’s resignation; a new government could be
formed as soon as next week.
The driving force behind the government reshuffle is President Giorgio
Napolitano. He has repeatedly urged the government in recent months to implement
the policies demanded by the EU. International government officials now regard
him as a favoured partner for talks. At the recent G-20 summit in Cannes, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel made a point of consulting Napolitano on the economic
situation in Italy.
There is a historic irony attached to the prominence Napolitano now enjoys. The
86-year old joined the Italian Communist Party in 1945—at a time when, due to
pressure from the NATO powers, the party was repeatedly excluded from
government, despite the fact that it was Italy’s biggest party. The EU and US
now depend on this veteran Stalinist functionary to ensure that Italy complies
with the dictates of the financial markets.
As President, Napolitano has largely ceremonial duties. In crisis situations,
however, he assumes a key role, because he can both dissolve parliament and
appoint a candidate of his choice to form a new government.
In recent days, Napolitano has used the dissolution of Parliament as a threat to
win support for a transitional government. He knows that the center-left
parties—the Democrats, which emerged from the Communist Party, and various
Christian Democratic groups—fear new elections. They all support unpopular
austerity measures, but do not want to publicly argue for such measures in an
election campaign. In addition, they reason, an election campaign would only
delay implementation of the austerity measures.
It was also Napolitano who raised the possibility of Mario Monti heading a
technocratic government. On Wednesday, he appointed Monti to a life-long
position as senator to strengthen his political credibility.
The 68-year-old Monti has extensive international connections. He was chairman
of the Brussels think tank BRUEGEL, and is a regular participant in the
Bilderberg Conference, which brings together top representatives of West
European and American politics, finance, economics, military and media for
regular consultations.
He studied at Yale University in the US and has worked as an economics professor
at several Italian universities. As EU Commissioner, he directed two key
departments from 1995 to 2004: the internal market and competition. As
competition commissioner, he made a name for himself with actions against US
software giant Microsoft and the German Volkswagen Group.
Whether Napolitano can actually secure a parliamentary majority for a
technocratic government led by Monti is not yet clear. The largest opposition
party, the Democrats, have signaled their approval, along with several smaller
centrist parties.
Berlusconi’s PDL (People of Freedom) party, however, is split: some members
support a transitional government, while others demand new elections. Berlusconi
himself has abandoned his initial opposition to a government led by Monti—at
least officially.
Gianfranco Fini, leader of the “post-fascists”, has called Monti “the right
person to solve the crisis” and has rejected new elections, calling them a “leap
into the unknown”. Fini merged his party with the PDL in 2009, but has since
fallen out with Berlusconi.
Berlusconi’s coalition partner, the Northern League, has spoken out against
Monti. League leader Umberto Bossi said: “It’s nice to be back in opposition,
and we will be in opposition.” This right-wing, populist party evidently hopes
to benefit from widespread anger at the austerity measures. The civil rights
party led by former prosecutor Antonio di Pietro has also called for early
elections.
Italy has already had bitter experiences in the 1990s with so-called
technocratic governments. After the implosion of the old party system in a
morass of corruption scandals, central bank chief Carlo Azeglio Ciampi assumed
the leadership of such a government in 1993. He was replaced by Silvio
Berlusconi, who won the 1994 parliamentary elections to form his first
administration.
The Berlusconi government foundered after a few months, however, following
massive opposition to its social cuts. He was then replaced by another
technocratic government, this time under Lamberto Dini, Ciampi’s successor at
the head of the Central Bank. Dini remained in power for 16 months.
Both the Ciampi and the Dini governments could rely on the support of the entire
parliamentary left, which deeply discredited itself in the process. This created
the conditions under which Berlusconi could return to power in 2001, and then
again in 2008.
A government led by Monti would go much further than its political predecessors.
Lacking any democratic credentials, such a government would implement the
dictates of the international financial markets, while relying on the support of
the center-left parties, the trade unions, and their pseudo-left allies. Given
the country’s enormous mountain of debt—€1.9 trillion, or 120 percent of Italian
GDP—this is only possible by drastically slashing the living standards of broad
social layers, as is currently taking place in Greece.
Given deep popular opposition to its policies, a government led by Monti would
be highly unstable. It would represent a transitional stage to a regime
undertaking openly dictatorial measures against the working class.
In its Friday editorial, the Financial Times—Europe’s leading business
newspaper—warned that “appointing an unelected technocrat is less than ideal”.
Both in Greece and in Italy, “it would be a fatal mistake to presume that a
coalition of the old established political elite, led by a technocrat, will
provide a miracle fix to deeply rooted problems. … Both governments will have to
walk a tightrope between domestic politics and credibility in the markets. …
“The new leaders must also recognize that nothing will be achieved without
popular support”, concludes the Financial Times.
But where will the ruling class find “popular support” for a policy aiming to
destroy the livelihoods of broad layers of the population? For this reason,
sections of the bourgeoisie are openly contemplating a right-wing or fascist
populist movement. The greatest danger arising from a technocrat government,
supported by the entire official “left”, lies in the fact that it creates
fertile ground for precisely such a movement.
http://wsws.org/articles/2011/nov2011/ital-n12.shtml
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