“In case of victory of the No Berlusconi he says he wants to sit at the table with me. The next day at the table we find Beppe Grillo and D'Alema, not myself. This must be clear." This was stated by the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, during a video forum on the website of the newspaper La Stampa.
As for the possibility of a non-political solution in the event of a NO victory in the referendum, according to the Premier “a caretaker government that raises taxes and says 'Europe is asking us' is not in Italy's interest. The Economist says that the victory of the No is perhaps better because a technocratic government arrives, perhaps it is better for Italy. The last technocratic government that I remember raised taxes and brought the GDP down to -2,3%, it was the government of Mario Monti”.
In any case, Renzi does not seem willing to support alternative majorities: "If we have to go back to the liturgies of the past, continue in the logic of swamps and quicksand, there are many better than me, go for them – he added – It is something that is not in my strings. If there's one person who isn't able to get by, it's me”. Therefore “when it's time to leave, you turn around, bow to the flag, smile, and don't sulk. The bell will be passed with a smile and a hug to whoever comes next."
If, on the other hand, the Yes wins in the referendum, "the priority is to open a major phase of change in Europe: we will be the most stable country and we will be able to give the cards in Europe", said the Prime Minister again, underlining that on the internal front "we must reduce taxes. In my opinion we should listen to all the social forces to understand what the further priority is for the tax reduction. Two sectors on which to intervene are VAT and Irpef. We must intervene on one of these two, the tax burden must be further reduced. I think it would be better to intervene on personal income tax but we can think about it”.
Finally, the bad weather that is affecting Northern Italy in these hours: “We are now facing an emergency phase that has not ended. No one can afford a sigh of relief, because we await the flood in Asti and Alessandria". Renzi said these words at the end of a meeting with the Piedmontese Civil Protection where, together with the president of the Piedmont Region, Sergio Chiamparino, and the mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino, the point was taken on the bad weather emergency.
Renzi then spoke of "impeccable management of the emergency" and assured that "when the government receives the requests for a state of emergency, it will act immediately" to calculate the damages and to "help the population. We are here, the government is there”.
