I’ll tell you about Tajani’s challenges and aims with Forza Italia

2 October 20238 months ago babelfish

Who was there and what was said at the three-day Italian event in Paestum. Paola Sacchi's note

“Without making crises, boasting or threatening interviews, we are sure of what we want. Forza Italia will reach 20 percent in one or two years." With moderate but determined tones, at the same time, Antonio Tajani, national secretary of Forza Italia, concludes the three days in Paestum which relaunches the party towards the future. Always in the name of Silvio Berlusconi, the president, whose name will remain in the FI symbol. Tajani effectively relaunches his own leadership with the party, which does not appear to be transitional. He is wearing a blue sweater, a look that is very reminiscent of “Silvio”. But he is the first to be aware that "there is only one president", so much so that with realpolitik he had the figure of the secretary, represented by him, included in the statute.

Tajani, as Paolo Berlusconi, Cav's brother, said a few days ago in Il Corriere della Sera with pragmatic Brianza style, "is the man designated by Silvio", with the aim of taking FI towards the future, as a party of center "that balances FdI and Lega". In a few words Paolo Berlusconi, specifying once again that none of the family intends to go into politics, summarized the essence and strategy of FI. Or, as Marina Berlusconi said and Tajani recalled, "one of the most important achievements" of the former prime minister, founder of the blue party and the centre-right.

Tajani in the name of Berlusconi relaunches Forza Italia at the center, in a bipolar framework. It relaunches, as it is put in black and white in the document approved by the National Council, "the reformist, liberal, Christian, guaranteeist, pro-European, Atlantic ideas that define the identity of Forza Italia and which make it a unique political movement". A movement which, recalls the Italian leader, "proudly represents the largest European political family in Italy, the popular and liberal one of the EPP". But the center represented by FI is not the subcontractor one like Renzi or Calenda.

Forza Italia defines itself as "clearly an alternative to the left in Italy and Europe and an integral part of the centre-right, a political coalition in which we believe completely precisely because it was a great intuition of President Berlusconi". But, it is underlined: "FI is a movement which is however also very distinct from its allies on the democratic right, because it represents – in coherence with the values of the EPP – the liberal and Christian centre, within a modern European-type bipolarism".

The program is then articulated in the document. With institutional reform in first place. It is written: “To guarantee bipolarism in Italy, and therefore the stability of governments and the representativeness of citizens, the great institutional reform that President Berlusconi has asked for for many years and which the government, with our minister Casellati, is indispensable is essential. committed to achieving: the direct election of the leadership of the executive”. How to implement it? “We hope that it can be a shared reform, once examined in detail in Parliament, and if necessary improved with everyone's contribution. But no one can exercise that right of veto which in the past has made any reform project virtually impossible."

The stability and representativeness of governments are considered "the keys to coherent and effective policies on an international and domestic level". As far as international relations are concerned, the compass remains Europeanism and Atlanticism. For Forza Italia, “Europe and the Atlantic Alliance are the essential coordinates of foreign policy. European and Atlantic membership is a choice of values and a strategic necessity."

The Italian national council, therefore, expresses its appreciation for "the government, and in particular the Foreign Minister Tajani" who place "friendship with the United States, with the great European countries, with Israel, with the democracies of Indo-Pacific, with the friendly countries of Africa and the Near East as the foundation of our foreign policy, aimed at guaranteeing the international liberal order". An order "endangered both by the aggressive policy of non-liberal great powers (as in the Ukrainian case) and by the uncontrolled drama of migration".

“Migrations” are defined as “a drama that cannot be resolved either with force or with the rhetoric of welcome, but with European solidarity and the West's commitment to stabilize and grow Sub-Saharan Africa and other areas to stronger migratory pressure". Forward, therefore, with the government's policy: "The Mattei plan will constitute a qualifying element of Italy's relationship with those areas of the world." There is also an approval for the budget law, "oriented towards prudence but also towards growth". The not many resources "must be concentrated in the reduction of the tax wedge, in the revaluation of minimum pensions, in the tax relief of thirteenth wages, in healthcare and in other targeted categories". FI's legislative objectives remain unchanged: "Increase in minimum pensions to 1000 euros, progressive tax cuts until the flat-tax is achieved, tax relief for new hires and apprenticeship contracts".

The compass "for liberals" is "realism and gradualism", in the belief that the path indicated by Forza Italia and Berlusconi "is the only one to really restart the country". It is claimed: "It is to the commitment of Berlusconi and Tajani in Europe that Italy owes the fact of having been treated generously with the resources of the Pnrr."

“Europe on that occasion – it is observed – demonstrated that it was there, now we must demonstrate that we know how to use those resources which are a decisive opportunity to build our future”. Inflation control and a judgment according to which “the increase in interest rates wanted by the ECB for this purpose is very dangerous”. FI considers it "a wrong choice, because inflation this time arises from reasons external to the economic cycle, indeed from an almost war economy situation, and therefore the traditional means of controlling the monetary mass are not proving effective". On the contrary, according to FI "the credit crunch takes the breath away from families and businesses, discourages investment and consumption, delays the recovery and paradoxically even ends up becoming the cause of an increase in prices".

For the same reason "the banking sector cannot be blamed or penalized, but it must be called upon to do its part with more initiative to contribute to the overall effort. An effort that requires a more modern country, richer in infrastructure." And here the commitment to the bridge over the Strait of Messina is reiterated and relaunched. A commitment that will only sound like music to the ears of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini. The Bridge "is fundamental and completes a project conceived and desired by the Berlusconi governments and this is why it must be dedicated to him".

According to FI, equal attention must be paid to the infrastructures of the North and the connections with Europe, "often fragile and saturated as demonstrated by the emergencies resulting from the landslide at Frejus and the maintenance works on Mont Blanc". Therefore "bureaucratic and regulatory simplification, the rational and systematic use of technologies, which Minister Zangrillo is taking good care of, are essential conditions for making Italy an attractive country for investments". At the same time, maximum attention is paid to the South: “Midday is an absolute priority. The country's restart cannot be two-speed, the South must make up for a delay in infrastructure, training and social safety nets. It is a land that produces great excellences that are not enhanced by the context conditions in which they must operate."

Environmental protection "one of the bets of our generation". The environmental transition requested by Europe is judged to be "a fair objective". But, “it must be done in a realistic and above all effective way”. So no to ideological policies. FI reiterates, in line with its allies, that "it makes no sense to destroy our automotive companies, or even worse, penalize our housing stock, to obtain negligible results at very high prices". No, therefore, to "ideological environmentalism". Because "it doesn't belong to us, but – as Minister Pichetto is demonstrating – with common sense and balance important things can be achieved". Yes to nuclear power: "There will be no clean energy future if nuclear energy is not brought back into play." The damage that "ideological environmentalist policies could cause to farmers and breeders" is underlined. For the University, no to limited numbers, the work of minister Anna Maria Bernini is defined as "precious".

Justice cannot fail to be central also in the Forza Italia of the future: "We need a fair and efficient judicial system that gives quick and correct answers to the demand for justice, especially in civil justice, and which is profoundly respectful of the sacred rights of the person in the field criminal". Guarantee is always at the center of the blue DNA with the relaunch of the separation of careers: “For us it is a fundamental issue, and must indispensably inspire government action. The path indicated by Minister Nordio at the beginning of the legislature remains for us the essential compass of the reform". Therefore, "the measures on wiretapping and abuse of office presented in Parliament are good, but the issue of separation of careers remains unavoidable".

FI's positive opinion on the state of the majority : "We are working well with the help of all government partners". And now the spotlight is on the next electoral appointments. From the by-elections in Berlusconi's constituency, in which FI nominated Adriano Galliani, "the person who – due to his closeness to our President and his connection with those places – was the natural nominee, with the consent of course of the Berlusconi family" . Here the commitment of the allies is recalled: "The result of Monza, however, does not concern only Galliani or only Forza Italia, it is a test in which the entire coalition is committed, destined to win together". As for the crucial appointment of the European elections, despite the party distinction, since it will run with the proportional system, FI recalls that the entire center-right must win, each addressing its reference electorate". FI, in Italy as in Europe, "has the task of building a strong, dynamic centre, aimed at moderates, alternative to the left. A liberal and Christian center based not on slogans, buzzwords, promises, but on the culture of doing, on the concreteness of ideas, on the demonstrated ability to keep commitments". Final tribute to Berlusconi: “This is the morality of doing that our President taught us, this is the first of his great lessons on which we want to build our future, under the serious and responsible guidance of Antonio Tajani and his team called to manage Forza Italia". In the memory of Berlusconi, but from Paestum, says Tajani, "without nostalgia, looking to the future".

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/antonio-tajani-forza-italia-paestum/ on Mon, 02 Oct 2023 07:01:21 +0000.