[A-List] Italy: rightwing populism and political crisis

["Keaney Michael" <Michael.Keaney@xxxxxx>]

Spotlight on the Italian right

Italy's far-right leaders have been denouncing the racist French
politician, Jean-Marie Le Pen, but their instincts may not be so far
removed from his, writes Philip Willan

The Guardian
Friday April 26, 2002

April 25 is Liberation Day in Italy. Normally the prime minister would
be in the forefront of ceremonies marking the return of democracy at the
end of the second world war and celebrating the virtues of the (mainly
communist) resistance.

But Silvio Berlusconi chose to spend the day on holiday at one of his
villas in Sardinia and the deputy premier, Gianfranco Fini, also spent a
quiet day at home - not surprising for an ex-fascist. This festival of
official anti-fascist rhetoric is always a good barometer of the
country's relationship with its past.

Mr Berlusconi chose to mark the day by sending a message to a ceremony
in Turin commemorating Edgardo Sogno, a rare rightwing resistance hero
who played a leading role in the military coup plots of the 1970s. Mr
Sogno, an aristocrat and monarchist, was important, the prime minister
said, because he had fought in equal measure against fascism, nazism and
communism.

The electoral success of Jean-Marie Le Pen in France has turned the
spotlight on the far right in Italy, significant portions of which are
represented in Mr Berlusconi's government. Leaders of the anti-immigrant
Northern League and Mr Fini's National Alliance were quick to distance
themselves from Mr Le Pen, but their policies and instincts may not be
far removed from those of the racist French politician. And many
government supporters are clearly delighted that the finger-pointing
French are now confronted with their own domestic crisis of democracy.

In 1988 Mr Le Pen was made an honorary member of Mr Fini's party, then
known as the Italian Social Movement, and both men acknowledged that
they saw eye to eye on issues such as immigration and the preservation
of national identity. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then
and Mr Fini has distanced his party from its fascist roots, notably at
the watershed party conference in Fiuggi in 1995.

His move towards the centre may not be popular with all grass roots
supporters but his consistent moderation and political acumen have
reinforced a reputation for statesmanship. That was recognised on
Thursday by the leader of Italy's Jewish community, Amos Luzzatto, who
praised him for the clarity of his pronouncements on Mr Le Pen.

"I recognise that there is substantial novelty in these positions, which
could change a whole series of things, including our attitude towards
him," Mr Luzzatto said, speaking at a Liberation Day rally in the Venice
ghetto.

Mr Fini immediately responded by expressing his appreciation and
reaffirming AN's condemnation of all forms of intolerance, violence,
xenophobia and anti-semitism, which he said had been clear and
unequivocal since the Fiuggi conference. The Italian right's negative
opinion of Mr Le Pen was "its natural consequence," he said.

Umberto Bossi, the Northern League reform minister, pays much less
attention to the niceties of political correctness, but he too has
distanced himself from Mr Le Pen. Mr Le Pen was a superstate centralist,
while the League was for the federalism of the peoples, he told the
Milan daily Corriere della Sera.

Mr Le Pen wanted to throw immigrants into the sea, while the League was
for regulated immigration and was ready to help laborious and honest
immigrant workers.

But the League's anti-immigrant rhetoric in the piazzas does not sound
so reasonable. It was highlighted in a report published by the European
Council in Strasbourg on Monday. "Exponents of the Northern League have
been particularly active in resorting to racist and xenophobic
propaganda," the report by the Council's European Commission against
Racism and Intolerance said, expressing concern at the party's
participation in the Berlusconi government.

Nostalgia for the fascist past, despite occasional attempts to name a
square after Benito Mussolini or redraw history with a revisionist
brush, is perhaps not the real danger for Italy today. It is the more
subtle allergy to democracy that might be felt by an extremely rich
businessman who happens to control nearly all of the country's
broadcasting system and runs his political party as if it were a
company, rewarding parliamentary productivity with a Rolex watch - a
more sophisticated televisual "regime" worthy of the 21st century.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe recently wrote
to the Italian government seeking an explanation for Mr Berlusconi's
charge that certain leftwing journalists had made a "criminal" use of
state television. The government has not replied.

The OSCE's representative for media freedom, Freimut Duve, says that
many of the 55 member countries have paid close attention to his
warnings on the situation in Italy, where the concentration of media
control could become a threat to democracy. "There are signs of a
self-isolation on Italy's part," Mr Duve told the leftwing daily L'Unita
on Thursday. He said the anomalous situation made it possible for
eastern European governments with media difficulties of their own to
hide behind Italy's bad example.

There are already signs of a healthy reaction from civil society to Mr
Berlusconi's unique domination of the political scene. The best antidote
of all would be if the woefully lethargic centre-left leadership was
also to rouse itself from its slumber.

Full article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,691175,00.html

Michael Keaney
Mercuria Business School
Martinlaaksontie 36
01620 Vantaa
Finland

michael.keaney@xxxxxx