“The contest in the elections is populists versus reformists”. This is the image chosen by outgoing premier Mario Monti to close the electoral campaign in Florence. According to the Professor, in Italy's future there can be “neither those who reduced it like 14 months ago, nor destructive populists who want to take advantage of people's anger to destroy everything. Cynicism, resignation, populism and demagoguery are Italy's real enemies”.
Monti did not spare attacks either on the right or on the left: “Berlusconi personifies immoderation: how can you vote for him? – he asked the voters -. A citizen can be enticed by a refund of a tax, but there can be no personal escape route", added the Professor in reference to the Cavaliere's proposal to return the Imu to the Italians on the first house paid in 2012. "The right once again promises a society where everything is allowed, a country under the banner of everyone being free and nobody being liberal, of the many freedoms that mortify Italians”.
The centre-left coalition, however, according to the Premier is "still a prisoner of ideological cages and an ancient idea of the country. We have chosen candidates who, entering politics, have something to lose”.
As for the first objectives to be pursued, "we have reached a less precarious balance in the public accounts - continued Monti -, now we want to reduce precariousness with a shock package for work which includes cutting the cost of labor for companies that hire open-ended contracts, the doubling of the number of nursery places, the experimentation of a new type of more flexible permanent contract”.
The Professor concluded by underlining that he is not “a person who wants to remain in politics at all costs. We have the lucidity to see that Italy is still in full economic and social emergency, that the path of sacrifices can veer towards growth, but only if rigorous policies are pursued".
