It’s time for presidentialism, Italians disgusted by the party theater
The political debate, in the last week, has shifted to the election of the President of the Republic. This could be the last one decided by deputies, senators and 58 regional delegates, the so-called "big electors". In fact, the modality characterized by Palazzo intrigues, hidden compromises and crossed vetoes could end, to leave room for a direct election, for the choice of citizens. A constitutional reform for the direct election of the tenant of the Colle, aimed at transforming our system of government into a presidentialism also by law, not only in fact, could be a valid solution to overcome the difficulties shown by the parties in finding a name suitable for the role of head of state.
The desire for presidentialism in Italy is high, as confirmed by the latest polls. Seven out of ten Italians would like to directly elect the President of the Republic and one in two Italians would like a politician on the highest hill in Rome. The reasons for this orientation are clear. The Palazzo games, secret conferences and hidden agreements have long ceased to fascinate Italians and what is evident from this last week of voting is their inadequacy to today's political situation.
The long negotiations have weakened Parliament and for the most part have made government action unusable, which is now in danger of stalling. While thirty years ago the political system could hold out for several days before electing the first office of the state, currently, looking at the fragmentation of Parliament and the divisions within the same parties, the long wait, the uncertainty, the chaos, the make it even more unstable.
In this legislature, transformism has become endemic, jersey changes have increased and the Mixed group is one of the most numerous in republican history. The leaders no longer control the parties and the internal currents are more and more marked. The indecent clash between Di Maio and Giuseppe Conte for the leadership of the 5 Star Movement, the 71 snipers who drowned Casellati's candidacy by dividing the center-right, revealed, if it was not yet understood, the fragility of the thread that bound the parties to their respective coalitions.
What has been lacking is the will, and perhaps the ability, of political leaders to speak constructively and quickly find a compromise. Having lost the ability to mediate between opponents, all the dust within the coalitions has reappeared from under the carpet. Internal divisions have made it impossible for party secretaries to control their own troops of high voters. What was disconcerting was the path, an amateur method, whereby the candidacies were launched without agreements with allies and political opponents.
The theater of political intrigues has tired public opinion, for which transparency has become a necessity. The health emergency, the pandemic, have certainly accelerated this course and the declarations in favor of a constitutional reform in the presidential sense in the last few weeks have increased. Public opinion did not appreciate the days lost before resolving the Quirinal skein and did not like the clashes between leaders or presumed such. The vetoes presented assiduously by the center-left perceived as useless, if not aimed at blackmailing or burning the names of the center-right coalition. The succession of names brought only confusion and the secrecy of the urn closed the circle making the situation more and more indecipherable. Not to mention the "nice" names that came out from the very first ballots, seen as a despicable lack of respect for the institutions.
This Byzantine rite must not be repeated and the only way to overcome it is a constitutional reform for the direct election of the head of state, giving importance to the free choice of citizens.
The post It's time for presidentialism, Italians disgusted by the party theater appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL https://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/e-lora-del-presidenzialismo-italiani-disgustati-dal-teatrino-dei-partiti/ on Tue, 01 Feb 2022 03:53:00 +0000.