Translated material
Italian roly-poly
Romano Prodi resisted, but must resolve the issue of marriage
As head of the Italian government, Romano Prodi will nevertheless meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 14 in the Italian port city of Bari. 67-year-old Prodi, who can easily be compared to a roly-poly for his political unsinkability , is back on his feet. His left-of-center government survived confidence votes in both houses of parliament, although the fate of the cabinet at some points hung in the balance. By the same thread as Prodi himself won the parliamentary elections in April 2006, ahead of 70-year-old Silvio Berlusconi by 0.06% of the vote. Romano Prodi himself called the end of the crisis a “health procedure” for the cabinet and the entire ruling coalition: “You come out of some ailments rejuvenated.”The crisis in Italy erupted on February 21. Then the Senate, the upper house of parliament, rejected by a majority of two votes the report of Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema on foreign policy. Prodi immediately resigned. But the President of the Republic, 81-year-old Giorgio Napolitano, did not accept it and left it to the Senate and Chamber of Deputies to decide the fate of the cabinet. During the roll call vote in the Senate, the prime minister received 162 “for” and 157 “against”. In the Chamber of Deputies, where the government has a solid majority, at the March 2 vote everything turned out to be much simpler. Prodi's advantage over the opposition was almost 100 votes. After this, Prodi announced: “A good advantage in votes, a useful discussion and, most importantly, increased unity of the coalition of the center left.”
A different mood reigned in the camp of the center-right opposition. Its leader, ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, called Prodi a “poor guy” who has gained the trust of a dubious majority, who at the first difficulty will “melt again”: “I hope that tomorrow he will be defeated.”
This forecast has some basis. Members of the ruling coalition rallied and voted for Prodi's confidence under the threat of the collapse of the center-left government. But disagreements have not gone away and may come to the surface in the coming weeks.
Three problems continue to threaten the government's stability. Firstly, this is the question of the so-called “DIKO”. This cacophonous term is simply an abbreviation of the first letters of the Italian words denoting the rights and obligations of actual unions. In Italy, such unions are understood as those couples (of the same or different sexes) who cohabit without entering into either a church or civil marriage. A government bill expanding their rights will be discussed in parliament. He is supported by the radical left, but Catholic elements in the ruling coalition do not hide their hostility. The conservative opposition and the Catholic Church are categorically against it. Pope Benedict XVI and the President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, unequivocally condemned the recognition of “de facto unions.” Prodi gave parliamentarians the right to vote on this issue according to their conscience, and it is possible that the majority will disintegrate. After all, moderate parties in the coalition, such as the Union of Democrats for Europe of Justice Minister Clemente Mastella and the Daisy Party of Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli, intend to vote against.
The second knot of contradictions is the reform of the electoral law. The current one was adopted more than a year ago by the Berlusconi government precisely in order to make it more difficult for the opposition forces led by Prodi to win. The law is based on a proportional system with a complex web of amendments that make it extremely ineffective. Prodi is keen to ensure that the new law, modeled on the German five-percent threshold, is passed by a large majority and not just the votes of the government coalition. This requires an agreement with the opposition. Berlusconi flirts, saying neither “yes” nor “no.”
The presence of the Italian military contingent in Afghanistan also raises questions. The United States is insisting that the Italians (1,900 strong) participate more actively in the fighting, including in the offensive against the Taliban planned for the spring. Mr Prodi told the Senate that Italy was committed to fulfilling its obligations to its allies, but believed that the tasks of Italian troops in Afghanistan must fit within the framework of the political process and lead to peace. Left radicals in the ruling coalition generally insist on the withdrawal of troops.
Against the backdrop of the above problems, Romano Prodi’s speeches in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies did not say a word about Italy’s relations with Russia: simply because they are not considered a crisis here. After all, the Prime Minister himself, back in June 2006, called the development of relations between Italy and the European Union as a whole with Russia “an absolute priority.”