The Past Helping The Future? - Page 2
Ironically, a former communist - Giorgio Napolitano, 84 -year-old President of the Republic - had to sign the unhelpful decree to save the centre-right party late last Friday.
A Chance For the Underdog.
The decision of Italy’s cabinet to pass this interpretive decree, which really looks like an attempt to change electoral rule on the fly, could become a boomerang. For example, it could give good reason for centre-right electors to not vote in these regional elections.
In this confused and typically Italian situation, there is still something of value. For the first time, there are 5 candidates, including comedian Beppe Grillo's “5 Stars Movement”.
Until today, Grillo’s movement (please don’t call it a party) doesn’t have any exposure on traditional media, but it’s alive on the Internet through Facebook and (obviously) on Grillo’s blog, where he wrote:
“The 5 Star Movement started the collection of signatures at the beginning of January and finished last week. Our people have spent days and days out in the cold , in the rain and the snow, to collect the signatures from the citizens so that they can authorize us to present ourselves at the Regional elections in March 2010. We have been at those stalls for two months and we were the only ones. Where were the other parties? How have they collected the signatures needed?”
More than any sex scandal or last-minute decree, this regional elections will tell us if the 5 Stars Movement could be the Italian political future.
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