Italians To Return To Polls
Elections Set for April 13-14, 2008

By Francesco Isgrò

On April 13 and 14, 2008, Italians will return to the polls to elect a new government. It was only 20 months ago that Prime Minister Romano Prodi cobbled together a center-left coalition, which in the end collapsed after the government received a no- confidence vote from the Senate. The political lineup in the upcoming election is led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who heads Il Popolo della Liberta (Pdl) the center-right coalition, and who by all accounts is the front-runner in the early polls. His coalition is composed of Forza Italia, Alleanza Nazionale, with the support of Lega Nord, and the Movimento per l’Autonomia.

The candidate for prime minister for the center-left Democratic Party (Pd) is Walter Veltroni, the former mayor of Rome, and former editor of L’Unità, the official communist party paper. Mr. Veltroni who is 51 years old decided to run only with the support of his own party, an untested strategy driven by the slogan “si puo fare,” we can do it.

Of the splinter coalitions, the more credible are two coalitions led by Pier Ferdinando Casini for La Rosa Bianca-UDC and Fausto Bertinotti for the Sinistra-L’Arcobaleno.

If elected, Berlusconi claims that within his first 100 days of government, he will reduce real estate taxes, resume public works that had been previously held up, and address the trash collection problem in Naples. Berlusconi also wants to move Italy toward energyself-sufficiency by reintroducing atomic energy. Berlusconi has said that the United Nations should recognize as a human right the right to life from “conception until natural death, just has it has done with a moratorium on the death penalty,” thus suggesting that if elected the abortion issue could return to the legislature. Berlusconi, 71, dismissed critics who pointed to his age and health by saying, “I still feel like I’m 35 years old, and as my mother used to say, if a person feels the duty to do something, he has to find the courage to do it.”

Veltroni called his party “the party of the workers.” If elected, he proposes reducing the number of deputies and senators, which now number close to 1,000. His cost-cutting proposals come as Italians are increasingly critical of the privileges and perks of Italian politicians. Like Berlusconi, he would cut taxes, create new public infrastructure programs and implement programs to increase security and boost national competitiveness.

Casini, speaking recently at his party’s convention, noted that unlike his competitors, he will not promise “mari e monti.” Among his coalition programs are respect for life, and respect for the family founded upon marriage between a man and a woman. Casini’s coalition would also invest heavily in the public educational system, reduce taxes for home owners and block additional local taxes for low income people. Reforms will be difficult, he said, because “for many years we have lived above our possibilities, because we have a public deficit that is one of the highest in the word, and because our schools and universities are losing ground.” He added, “Ma ce la possiamo fare.”

Bertinotti has cast his party as the alternative party of the left, different from Veltroni’s party. Among the party’s agenda items is the goal of recognizing civil unions and modifying Law 40, which regulates artificial insemination. 