Pd and Franceschini, too many amnesias on the Five Stars

Lilli Gruber, who the other evening in "Otto e mezzo" on La7, asked him what on earth the 5 Stars and the PD had in common, so as to convince him of the possibility that the temporary (purpose) alliance between the two parties could transform itself into a strategic alliance and, in the not too distant future, even into a new centre-left political formation, Minister Dario Franceschini, quoting Erri De Luca (who in turn quoted the Psalms), replied: "We will use the stones that (the 5 Stars) have thrown at us to build our common home”. And actually the 5 Stars have thrown many stones against the Democratic Party in recent years.

The first, accompanied by a gigantic “fuck…”, was the one with which they gave voice to the rancor and social envy of the middle classes impoverished by the financial crisis and lack of growth. This cry has resounded in Italy as in Europe and throughout the Western world and fueled a populist protest everywhere. But, unlike what happened elsewhere, in Italy this protest was not accompanied by a request for policies for development and growth but, thanks to the 5Stelle, it fueled welfarism and encouraged anti-growth movements. Once again yesterday, the Speaker of the Chamber Roberto Fico returned to criticize those he considers the "fanatical supporters of unlimited growth", forgetting to say that Italy hasn't grown for ten years now.

The second stone, also thrown with the cry of “vaffa…”, was the one against the elites. Against all elites: cultural ones (professors), those involved in information (newspapers), scientific ones (from Burioni to agronomists working against Xylella) and, finally, entrepreneurial ones (downgraded to borrowers). For the 5 Stars merit and competence seem to count for nothing and in this regard, the "she says so!" remains memorable. that the deputy minister of the 5 Stars Laura Castelli opposed to the economic arguments of the minister Pier Carlo Padoan.

But the most dangerous stone of all is the one thrown against representative democracy. The idea that one is worth one, that representatives of the people may be drawn by lot and that the electoral lists do not require a preliminary phase of comparison and selection by the voters registered in the parties but which a like is enough to form themstill poses a threat to our representative democracy. Both Minister Di Maio and Fraccaro (the true black soul of the 5Stelle) consider the seats, on which those elected by the people are called to sit, in the same way as armchairs that can be cut without taking into account the principle of representation. According to them, the MPs themselves should not decide freely on the basis of their conscience but should submit to a mandate bond, approving the decisions that from time to time the party, the parliamentary group or the government indicates to them. Perhaps the two young ministers are unaware that this type of transformation of representative democracy has already been experimented in Russia, when the Duma was dissolved to make way for the Supreme Sovietin China, With the 'People's Assembly called to ratify the decisions already taken by the Party once a year, and, in Italy, Durante it Fascism. In all these cases it was not direct democracy that prevailed but authoritarianism. And so it would be today.

However, the frontal attack, the real boulder, is what the 5 Stars have launched against politics. What the Greeks considered the greatest gift that the Gods had given to man, for them is synonymous with theft, of cheating and embezzlement. Of course, they were not the ones to cause the political crisis. Like all populists and demagogues in the world, even the 5 Stars limit themselves to giving voice to a feeling of disillusionment with politics that is widespread among the people. A sentiment that draws fuel from the obvious difficulties that politics encounters in managing the crisis we are experiencing and from which not only populists and demagogues take advantage, but also the old and new oligarchies, the new aspiring "commander-in-chief" like Salvini. Paraphrasing Goya, one could say that "the sleep of politics breeds monsters".

The 5 Stars then followed up with a thick throwing of stones insults towards friends and relatives of representatives of other parties and they did it with one executioner fury and with a forked language which has nothing to envy to the one in vogue in the Mani Pulte season.

The question that Franceschini should ask at this point is: what common house do you think you can build with these stones? And, if he ever manages to build one, Do you really think that liberals, social democrats and supporters of a policy of reform, modernization and development could also find a place in that house? It's hard to believe.

Much more trivially, the goal of Franceschini, Bettini and Boccia, and that of the heirs of the Christian Democrat left, would seem to build a political alliance between the Democratic Party, the 5 Stars and Leu led by Giuseppe Conte to face the center-right led by Salvini in the next elections. It seems to me a mistake, but if this is really the goal of the Democratic Party, then it is necessary that the liberal-democratic and reformist forces, wherever located, begin to take a serious interest in their future.