Friday, April 26, 2024

Vogon Today

Selected News from the Galaxy

StartMag

Paolo Ciani, who is the big Pd of the Community of Sant’Egidio against the shipment of weapons to Ukraine (spanked for this by Paolo Mieli)

1 year ago babelfish

Paolo Ciani, who is the big Pd of the Community of Sant'Egidio against the shipment of weapons to Ukraine (spanked for this by Paolo Mieli)

The Chamber approves the new shipment of arms to Ukraine, but not everyone on the left votes in favour: among those against is Paolo Ciani, linked to the Community of Sant'Egidio, who Mieli inserts into the new "steel nucleus" of the left

At 24 Mattino , on Radio 24, Paolo Mieli – journalist, historian and former director of Corriere della Sera – said that "among the recalcitrant parliamentarians" to sending weapons to Ukraine is Paolo Ciani, secretary of Democrazia Solidale ( DemoS) and deputy of the centre-left Democratic Party – Democratic and Progressive Italy.

A graduate in art history, Ciani was also the Rome director of the Community of Sant'Egidio, a very influential lay Catholic movement close to Pope Francis.

SANT'EGIDIO, RICCARDI, MONTI AND DEMOS

The Community of Sant'Egidio – now chaired by Marco Impagliazzo, professor of contemporary history at the University of Roma Tre – was founded in 1968 by the historian Andrea Riccardi (columnist for Corriere della sera like Mieli), who from 2011 to 2013 covered the office of Minister for International Cooperation and Integration in the government of Mario Monti.

In 2013 Riccardi joined and chaired the Civic Choice, the center party founded by Monti (later dissolved in 2019). In 2014, following a split, the Civic Choice gave rise to Popolari per l'Italia, which explicitly referred to Christian-democratic values.

A few months later, the left-wing faction of Popolari per l'Italia split further to form a new party (initially an association), DemoS. Paolo Ciani has been its secretary since May 2022.

THE “CORE OF STEEL” OF THE ITALIAN LEFT, ACCORDING TO MIELI

Mieli said that with Ciani's refusal to send arms to Ukraine “a melting pot is thus formed with the Dalemians, those of Sant'Egidio and the 5 Stars. This core of steel will be the one that will command the Italian left”.

WHAT HAS THE CHAMBER DECIDED ON SENDING WEAPONS TO UKRAINE?

On Tuesday 24 January, the Chamber of Deputies also approved, converting it into law, the "Ukraine decree" which extends to 31 December the supply of weapons, materials and military equipment to Ukraine by Italy. The votes in favor were 215; those against 46.

The government majority was "solid" in voting in favour, writes Repubblica . On the other hand, the Movimento 5 Stelle, the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (Italian Left, Green and Possible Europe) group and Paolo Ciani of DemoS spoke out against it. Abstentions include some deputies from the Democratic Party group (who sided in favor of the decree) such as Laura Boldrin or Article 1's Arturo Scotto.

WHAT CIANI THINKS ABOUT WEAPONS IN UKRAINE

Paolo Ciani declared today that he “voted No to the new shipment of arms to Ukraine. Weapons don't bring peace, weapons kill, they prolong wars, they bring death and destruction. They say they are helping Ukraine, then they haven't extended the protection and healthcare for Ukrainian refugees. The only victory will be peace”.

CIANI'S VICTORY AT COLLEGIO LAZIO 1

In the elections of last September 25 Ciani was a candidate in the Lazio 1 single-member constituency in the Chamber, an area that includes the districts of the historic center of Rome and beyond, where he won over the Forza Italia candidate Maria Spena: he obtained 74,145 votes, the 38.4 per cent, beating Spena by about eight points.

Il Sole 24 Ore called it a "surprising" victory for the center-left, because the seats of Ciani and Roberto Morassut (also in the Chamber) were the only two obtained by the Democratic Party and its allies in the single-member challenges in the region.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/paolo-ciani-comunita-sant-egidio-armi-ucraina/ on Wed, 25 Jan 2023 11:16:56 +0000.