“Pensions are not touched”. The halt of the League and of Umberto Bossi arrives peremptorily on the eve of the meeting (it will be this afternoon and Silvio Berlusconi should also participate) of the government with the social partners. What, in the opinion of observers, should mark the moment for the Executive to put its cards on the table. Yes, but which cards? In recent days there has been talk above all of two instruments on which to pivot the blood and tears maneuver that Europe and the markets impose on us rather than ask us: the property and pension interventions. But on the first there is the no of the PDL, supported in particular by the prime minister; on the second, in addition to the foreseeable resistance of the unions (not only of the CGIL), there is now the "niet" of the League, which immediately put behind it what it had seemed, the day after a meeting in the courtyard of the Bossi house in Gemonio with the Minister of Economy, a pro-European turning point.
Not to mention that a blood and tears maneuver would require and does require a political consensus that goes even beyond the PDL-Scilipoti majority, in the name of that national cohesion repeatedly evoked by the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano. But in recent days, above all, the Democratic Party has complained not only about the lack of involvement of the opposition in the development of the measures, but also the lack of information on the interventions on our government by international organizations (the so-called commissioner). And yesterday Bersani went even further by stating in no uncertain terms: "If they think of making poor people pay for the maneuver, they will have to deal with us". All while Pierferdinando Casini confirmed that the third pole remains firmly in opposition, while maintaining full willingness to serve the country in this very difficult crisis.
These facts are not a good omen either for today's meeting of the government with the economic and social forces, or for tomorrow's meeting of the Constitutional Affairs and Budget commissions of the House and Senate, in fact the only opportunity for parliamentary confrontation during the August holidays. The impression is that, just as the ECB continues to put pressure on Italy to take early measures to move towards a balanced budget, the Government and political forces have not yet managed to find the way to do what is required of us with the joint responsibility is required.
