“Dear editor, I would like to respond to the many references that have appeared, including in your newspaper, regarding my presumed positions relating to the internal life of the Democratic Party and my possible support for this or that protagonist. I reiterate that I have definitively left Italian political life. I acknowledge that it has granted me fundamental experiences and many personal satisfactions, which I hope have offered a positive contribution to the country". This is what Romano Prodi writes in a letter addressed to Corriere della Sera.
“I faced two important challenges – continues the former Premier –, beating a political opponent who I considered and still believe is unfit to govern the country. For my part, I have tried to carry forward a modern and supportive political culture that Italy badly needs. A battle not only political, but ethical and cultural. I believe these same goals have today need new interpreters even if, during the two periods of the government I presided over, we approached them without damaging, but rather significantly improving the country's international prestige and debt situation".
Towards the Democratic Party, Prodi says he maintains “not only a sense of gratitude, but also numerous and solid friendships. However in politics, as in sport and perhaps in any activity, it is preferable to choose the moment in which to finish one's work, before this moment is decided by others or by external events. These are also the reasons why without controversy I have failed to withdraw the card of the Democratic Party, the renewal and strengthening of which are nonetheless essential to the future of our democracy. To your polite reporter who asked me if I sided with one or the other of the potential congressional candidates, I simply replied «my game is over» which, translated into Italian, means that my race is over".
With regard to this race, "I can list many victorious challenges - concludes Prodi -, among which I certainly do not mind recalling the two national general elections of 1996 and 2006. Reflecting on all this, I finally wish that, even those who have been defeated in the two direct confrontations, may meditate on the fact that it shouldn't just be my race to an end. Now I greet you, because I'm leaving for New York where I will have to discuss the projects for the development of the Sahel in front of the United Nations Security Council. Because, as you know, exams never end".
