The Meloni government will be the beginning of a new (Atlantic) normal
From today Italy will be more similar to France or Germany. Countries that, well in advance, were able to come to terms with their most recent history, although their internal traumas were no less serious than those of Italy. Gianfranco Polillo's analysis
And now enough with the rhetoric of anti-fascism. The country, giving Giorgia Meloni the chance to become prime minister, although a woman (an aggravating circumstance) and leader of the Brothers of Italy (the party closest to the historical evolution of the Italian right) refused her. How he rejected the proposals of those who asked for a blood test to count any black blood cells and, on the basis of that result, exclude a dangerous competitor from political competition.
After all, the first to disbelieve the cry of "wolf to wolf" were his most determined opponents. If the danger was that of a new "march on Rome", then the strategy of the Democratic Party had to be different. Exhume the CNL, the National Liberation Committee, and present themselves at the electoral appointment with an array that ranged from Carlo Calenda and Matteo Renzi to Giuseppe Conte. Operation that could have been facilitated, considering the contradictions of this absurd electoral law. Halfway between the proportional and the majority, it forced to forge alliances. Suffice it to see the difference between the percentages of votes won and the number of seats obtained by each party. But this did not happen.
All this does not mean, of course, wanting to deny the value of the Resistance. That mixture of national liberation struggle and civil war that had allowed Italy to face the sloth of its elites, starting with the House of Savoy. And therefore redeem the honor of the Italians. The Resistance remains a great thing, which others have tried to shrink over time, transforming it into a simple instrument of struggle, not even political (it would already have been noble) but only electoral. Except that, after more than 70 years, it is right to consider that founding element the historical sediment on which the Italian Republic was built and certainly not the flag, with which to foment the clash in the streets.
Having only tried it, moreover in a contradictory and most of the time extemporaneous way, has taken away credibility from an entire political perspective. Unavoidable. Today the protagonists of the international scene are those who, in the past, had contributed in a decisive way to the defeat of Nazi-Fascism. But which find themselves on opposing positions. On the one hand, Vladimir Putin forced to resort to the rhetoric of denazification (is there any connection with militant anti-fascism?), To fuel a revanche that points directly to the reconstitution of the old nineteenth-century empire of Holy Mother Russia and at the same time to disarticulate the geopolitics of the XXII century. On the other, Americans, British and Europeans lined up alongside the Ukrainian people. Not only in defense of their inalienable rights, but determined to prevent any possible domino effect, even if shifted towards an uncertain future.
Well, in this context, so different from the "short century", the position of the Brothers of Italy and Giorgia Meloni (other than postfascism!) Has been immovable. The West as the guiding star of political action. NATO as an indispensable defense tool against possible aggressions. The United States, a precious ally to support against the most vulgar attacks of hired neo pacifists, to recover the sense of a position expressed by Draghi himself. Finally, Europe must be called to its responsibilities. If the struggle against an external enemy (Russian neo-imperialism) is common, then the costs must also be shared. It is not tolerable that countries, such as Holland or Norway, thanks to Gazprom and its policies to contain the supply of gas, make millionaire profits. While the rest of the continent is strangled by the grip of inflation.
A consistency that rewarded, showing the voters that any final exams had been largely passed. What, on the other hand, had proved more difficult for his closest allies: Forza Italia and the Lega. Whose electoral result resembles half a Caporetto. How much did the uncertainties about their international position weigh in the opinion of the voters? The ancient partnerships with Putin, often resurfaced in the same election campaign giving rise to real gaffes, or the impromptu declarations against the sanctions of those who, the new Pope Francis, even proposed unlikely journeys capable of convincing Putin to choose the path of peace. In both cases, ambiguous positions, capable of feeding the most dishonorable suspicions.
If this is the picture, then what is the red thread that can be glimpsed in the results of these elections? Perhaps the end of a ten-year political cycle. And the beginning of a new normal. That of an Italy that comes out, last, from the long tunnel that had characterized the history of the twentieth century. With that widespread presence of a communist party, capable of making a difference in relation to all other European countries. From now on, Italy will be more like France or Germany. Countries that, well in advance, were able to come to terms with their most recent history, although their internal traumas were no less serious than those of Italy. Just think of the French Resistance, capable of developing a relentless struggle against the Nazi occupation and the Vichy regime. Also in that case the French Communists were one of the most committed components, thanks to the role of the “Organization Spéciale”, which became its armed wing. A contribution that will allow the PCF to play an important role in the aftermath of the liberation. Destined, however, to run out with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
In Germany, the problems within the left had been solved in an even older era. In 1959 the Bad Godesberg congress marked the definitive abandonment of Marxism for social democracy, winning the majority of the working class. The Communists, initially deployed in the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, (KPD) had already merged, dissolving, into the SPD . They remained dormant in small groups, until they emerged, in 2007, as a component of Die Linke, also an important testimony of a past time; but completely unable to represent a real alternative.
From these hints, albeit brief, it is clear what the great Italian anomaly was. In the most similar countries, such as specific weight, history and culture, winners and losers of the past regime quickly managed to coexist, giving rise to the unraveling of a new national history. In Italy, however, that ancient rift has remained and perpetuated itself, transforming the normal political dialectic into a continuous and abstract "confrontation of civilizations". Which did not do much good for the destiny of the nation.
It will now be up to Giorgia Meloni to put an end to this sort of "curse". In her first hot speech , she said she was ready, if this is her destiny, to govern having all Italians as a point of reference and not just her most direct supporters. More than laudable intention. To which are linked the hopes of a national redemption that has been postponed for too long.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/perche-il-governo-meloni-sara-linizio-di-una-nuova-normalita-atlantica/ on Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:53:44 +0000.