politicians-from-italy

"That has never happened. Then there is a Prime Minister who gives full powers to one of his ministers in an emergency – in the First Republic, if anything, it was the Council of Ministers that would decide on such a measure. A precedent that does not exist."

"Let's not insult the First Republic; there is absolutely nothing that resembles it. There is a political leader, Salvini, who actually demands full powers, creates a government crisis and then, however, says: We can continue working."

"Interviewer: Little has been said about this plan in the newspapers or in historical accounts. Pomicino: In 1992, when the centre-left secured 55% of the vote, a Socialist-led parliamentary term was due to begin, with a Christian Democrat as President of the Republic. This political configuration was not to the liking of US intelligence and of the faction comprising the PCI and the shareholder bourgeoisie, which dreamed of making a fortune by selling off, or rather, selling at a loss, 25% of the publicly owned Italian economy to international financial groups. One only needs to read Giuseppe Guarino's memoirs to realize this."

"Interviewer: A sell-off that ultimately did indeed take place. Pomicino: Today, it has been completed. However, instead of consolidating public finances, the debt has tripled, rising in current terms from €839 billion in 1991 to €2,400 billion today, with the middle class suffering severe impoverishment."

"Corruption has always been a constant companion of humankind. After all, Catholic culture itself teaches us: without money, there are no Masses. Think of the Peter's Pence collection. The challenge for us politicians, and for all those who administer public affairs in general, is to navigate our own path towards God by seeking mediation."

"(Referring to Salvini) Those who wave rosaries in the streets should also remember that Hell exists."

"Indeed, we were wrong not to speak out against the costs of politics, and none of us has become rich. We took refuge behind hypocrisy. But we paid the price for the fact that, for us Catholics in the Christian Democrats and for the Communists, money was the Devil's dung. We should have told the truth about the enormous cost of election campaigns. Besides, those who financed me were all friends; it was perfectly well known who was supporting me. Craxi also said this in his famous speech in Parliament. But, in hindsight, it can be said that many of the accusations against that ruling class were exaggerated."

"Interviewer: The operation Clean Hands was a consequence of the fall of the Berlin Wall? Pomicino: Not only did the Communist Party end up under its rubble, but, thanks to the 'Via Pal' team at the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, so did the parties that had won the battle of history. Mani Pulite was orchestrated by the shareholder bourgeoisie led by De Benedetti. De Benedetti believed he would be the new leader of the country’s future government, which would bring together the financial and industrial elite from the upper echelons of Italian capitalism and the PCI of Achille Occhetto and Luciano Violante, which still had a strong local presence."

"I said that five years ago, the then mayor, (Gianni Alemanno) , ran for office with a campaign focused on the issue of security. He had a vision of a film, the 'sheriff mayor' film, but it turned into a different film, the 'all talk and no action' sheriff film."

"While it is true that, in the US, one person dies every minute due to a shortage of organs for transplantation and that the country needs to find a solution to this pressing issue, it is also essential to safeguard the rights and wishes of individuals who, while still mentally competent, have considered the sensitive question of how they wish to be cared for (or not cared for) in the final stages of their lives and how they wish their body to be disposed of. The new measures have received enthusiastic support from a large part of the US transplant community, despite bioethics experts warning of the risk that the law could turn individuals who would not have wished to do so into organ donors, force certain family members to accept decisions they do not agree with, and even encourage doctors not to administer certain medications to terminally ill patients for fear of damaging the quality of organs that would otherwise be available for harvesting and transplantation. These concerns may be exaggerated, but they are entirely legitimate. For decades, efforts have been made to close the gap between organ demand and supply, but this does not mean that we should not proceed with the utmost caution. It may seem obvious to point out a fundamental principle, but we must always bear in mind that it is not acceptable to place more value on one life than on another – in this case, on the life of a man or woman on the transplant waiting list than on the life of a person who is nearing the end of their life on an intensive care unit. We must act with caution, demonstrating that the ultimate concern is always, and only, the respect and health of citizens, at whatever stage of life they are, at whatever age, and in whatever situation."

"My mother was a woman of great faith. When my second brother, Mariano, died at the age of 33, and I broke the news to her, she turned to a painting of Our Lady of Pompeii and said through her tears: 'I don't understand You, but I entrust him to You.' That testimony has stayed with us through many other tragic moments."

"The truth is that when Christian Democrats die, everyone applauds them and some even wanted to canonise them, yet when they are alive, everyone wants to claim the lion's share for themselves. Some time ago, Berlusconi chose Scajola to reorganise himself politically, and now he has chosen Angelino Alfano. Similarly, when the Democratic Party was formed, it elected Rosy Bindi as its president. This shows that political Catholicism is a breeding ground for the ruling class."

"Consent is won by promising a great deal and always delivering, but in dribs and drabs."

"This scoundrel (Antonio Di Pietro) said that the growth of the 1980s was linked to the world of bribes."

"The European cultures that govern the member states are the environmentalist, liberal, socialist and Christian democratic cultures. In Italy, these cultures are currently absent, due to a form of bipolarity that is not political but rather linked to electoral technicalities. We are the only Western country where there is a majority bonus. There is only one precedent in the country's history: the Acerbo Law. Indeed, Mussolini did not even make use of it, as he received 65 per cent of the vote and the majority bonus was not triggered."

"If it weren't for the great comedian, now somewhat on the wane, namely Grillo, how many people would have had the opportunity to enter Parliament with the M5S?"

"The best trick is to tell the truth – no one believes it anyway."

"Interviewer: Why did you title your book on the Second Republic? Pomicino: It’s a metaphor to describe the new political situation after the Mani Pulite operation. We suddenly became a country devoid of any political culture. Indeed, we are the only European country that does not have a liberal, socialist, green or Christian democratic party. Responsibility lay with the old PCI which, by promoting the use of the judiciary to defeat the parties of the true centre-left, worked to obliterate everyone’s political culture, having lost its own."

"Indeed, throughout human history, the end of life has always coincided with the cessation of the heartbeat: every hero worthy of the name has died because their heart stopped beating. Literature, works of art, and old medical textbooks provide ample evidence of this. [...] With the first cardiac surgery procedures and the invention of extracorporeal circulation, it became clear that the function of the heart could be replaced by an artificial mechanism: the person continued to live without a beating heart in his chest, as long as blood continued to flow to their brain. Doctors had recorded numerous signs, and the idea that the brain played a crucial role in human life was already well established. Based on these assumptions, a debate developed at Harvard that brought together not only doctors but also lawyers, philosophers and representatives of different faiths, as the aim was to find a definition of death that took into account the ethical concerns and the context at a given point in history. Since the Harvard guidelines, death is certified when all vital brain functions have irreversibly ceased."

"In the USA, I have always refused to perform transplants from altruistic donors, although such transplants were carried out, albeit rarely, at the centres I have managed. On the other hand, I have always supported, performed and encouraged transplants from living donors with whom there is an emotional bond. I am not convinced that it is right to subject someone who is not related to the recipient to the risk of surgery. I wouldn't go so far as to ban them, but I'm not convinced that they are an ethical approach or a solution to the appallingly long waiting lists, especially for kidney transplants."

"Some people currently argue that the definition of death should be revised in light of the technological innovations that have transformed the world of medicine. Personally, I believe that the way in which the end of life is defined is scientifically correct. More importantly, however, I believe that if anyone has doubts, they should raise them in the appropriate forums and present the scientific arguments that support their position to everyone. Otherwise, suggesting that an individual who has hitherto been defined as dead is no longer dead is an irresponsible act that risks jeopardising the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands of lives through post-mortem organ donation, a generous act motivated solely by a sense of solidarity between human beings."

"Therefore, the new definition of death was not merely the result of a discussion between scientists; above all, it was the first shared bioethical statement to have a tangible impact worldwide. Indeed, brain death formed the basis for the development of transplant medicine as we know it today; it enabled organ donation and harvesting from donors whose hearts were still beating. And it is thanks to that work that, today, tens of thousands of organ transplants are performed worldwide each year, and that, thanks to this treatment, countless patients who would otherwise be facing certain death are saved. Therefore, the definition of death is based on scientific certainties that there is no reason to question. Moreover, it is clear that if a doctor had the slightest doubt about a person's death, they would never proceed with organ harvesting."

"Extra profits are Italians’ money and it is to them that they must be returned immediately. The profits belong to Italy, the profits do not belong to ENI."

"I find it appalling that he should express delight at preventing those behind the windscreen of a prison van from breathing. These words are a clear reference to violence and torture against prisoners. Those in senior government positions cannot allow themselves to utter such remarks, which are so devoid of humanity."

"It is incomprehensible, unacceptable and, if I may say so, even indecent that, in the face of rising social poverty in the country, there should be a sort of indifference to the accumulation of wealth that the major energy companies have amassed in our country through windfall profits."

"We have stated things we thought were normal, almost taken for granted: that for a country to grow, it needs people to have children; that a mother is called a mother (and not "parent 1"); that a father is called a father (and not "parent 2")."

"Mr President, I would like to thank you for acknowledging that climate change is happening. I am very pleased to hear this, because there are some members of this majority who have in the past claimed that climate change does not exist. Recognising this means taking concrete action, in our own small way and within our country, to save many lives in the future."

"Sarò forse anche infantile, un po' fanciullesco, ma l’idea di vedere sfilare questo potente mezzo [il furgone cellulare in dotazione alla polizia penitenziaria] che dà il prestigio, con il Gruppo Operativo Mobile sopra, far sapere ai cittadini chi sta dietro a quel vetro oscurato, come noi sappiamo trattare chi sta dietro a quel vetro oscurato, come noi incalziamo chi sta dietro quel vetro oscurato, come noi non lasciamo respirare chi sta dietro quel vetro oscurato, credo sia una gioia... è sicuramente per il sottoscritto una intima gioia."

"[...] The fact that President Giorgia Meloni is going to COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh and meeting with Egyptian President al-Sisi – to whom she utters not a single word regarding the tragedy of human rights violations, what happened to Zaki, or the death of Giulio Regeni – and is meeting al-Sisi to discuss oil and oil fields, shows exactly which side you are on in this country today."

"On the issue of energy strategy: I heard a representative of the Lega candidly argue that we must build more gas pipelines and we must build nuclear power stations. Well, let Italians know that this strategy is the strategy that will further reach into the pockets of Italians."

"I wish to speak out in support of strengthening family planning institutes in an effort to dissuade women from having an abortion. I am Catholic; I make no secret of it."

"(About Roberto Maroni) His human warmth, his profound ability to analyse economic and social phenomena, together with his constant pursuit of dialogue and debate, were unanimously appreciated and recognised by both friends and political opponents."

"If we are partners and allies in Europe, we must be so on equal terms. For too long we have endured subjugation to Germany and France within the European institutions."

"Salvini’s approach [to politics] is winning. Today, the revolution of common sense has begun."

"For my part, I have been favourably impressed by many of Putin’s statements and by the great Christian religious revival taking place in the country, undoubtedly the result of a reaction to seventy years of Soviet rule. I have seen in this a ray of hope for us Westerners too, who are experiencing a major crisis of values, immersed as we are in a society culturally dominated by ethical relativism, which can be ruthless, as the news of recent days shows."

"(About the 2022 Ischia landslide) This latest disaster demonstrates that the formulation and implementation of forward-looking policies to adapt to climate change—the effects of which are now plain for all to see—can no longer be postponed."

"(About the Meloni Government) So, dear social right – you who once called yourselves the social right and who today are the right of power – see how things change when you win the vote and enter government; you forget what you told the country [...]"

"Ho messo a fuoco i miei ricordi su Schifani e ne ho parlato ai magistrati perché già prima dell'attentato all'Olimpico sapevo che c'era una trattativa Stato-mafia. Quando ho visto Schifani in televisione e con incarichi politici, mi è venuto in mente che frequentava spesso il capannone di Brancaccio a Palermo dove Filippo Graviano si fermava a fare incontri. Ed ho ipotizzato che Schifani poteva essere l'anello di congiunzione per la trattativa."

"The passage of time allows us to view the past with greater clarity and objectivity. It is up to each of us to reflect on Craxi and that dramatic period. He was shown no leniency; he paid more than anyone else for the failings of the entire political system of the time. He was a scapegoat."

"Apologising for the intrusion, and without wishing to spoil this fine atmosphere of bipartisan deference towards the new President of the Senate, Renato Schifani, we would like to offer a few biographical notes on the well-known statesman from Palermo who now presides where De Nicola, Paratore, Merzagora, Fanfani, Malagodi and Spadolini once sat. He is not a namesake of the man who insulted Rita Borsellino and Maria Falcone ("they make political use of their surname", sic) because they had protested when Berlusconi described magistrates as “mentally disturbed, anthropologically alien to the rest of the human race”: it is indeed him. He is not a namesake of the author of the unconstitutional ruling which, in 2003, granted impunity to the five highest offices of state, particularly one of them—namely Berlusconi—and verbally attacked Scalfaro in the Senate because he dared to dissent: it is still him."

"The Supreme Court’s ruling finally does justice to Mr Previti. It is just a pity that it has taken more than ten years. We are delighted for our friend Cesare Previti and hope that this case will help shed light on the conduct of those who, for purely political reasons, have over the years denied the plain facts and the law."

"[Maria Falcone e Rita Borsellino] hanno offeso la memoria dei loro eroici fratelli. Le due signore, entrambi militanti a sinistra con una disinvoltura che preferisco non commentare, hanno strumentalizzato due eroi civili che, per fortuna di tutti, sono patrimonio della collettività."

"We are in the final stages of a tax reform. The public is well aware that once it is enacted, there will be no room for clemency."

"Craxi was a man who knew how to make decisions and with his government – remarkable in itself for its longevity, from 1983 to 1987 – he restored the central role and authority of Palazzo Chigi."

"(About Cosa Nostra) We are all defeating it, but above all the Sicilians. Consciences and attitudes have changed. Before, there was fear and the code of silence; even obvious facts were denied, and the facts themselves were simply ignored. Of course, we had to pay a huge price with the deaths of people like Judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone. But all this has changed the conscience of the Sicilians."

"There is nothing worse than trivialisation and generalisation, which, unfortunately, Roberto Vecchioni has fallen into. From such a highly regarded singer-songwriter, we would have expected more profound and less stereotypical assessments, not least given the venue where he delivered his speech."

"(About homoparentality) The natural family is under attack. They want to dominate us and wipe out our people."

"On the one hand, the weakening of the family and the push for same-sex marriage and gender theory in schools; on the other, the mass immigration we are enduring and the simultaneous emigration of our young people abroad. These are all interconnected and interdependent issues, because these factors aim to eradicate our community and our traditions. The risk is the eradication of our people."

"It is not a question of being friends with Trump or Putin, but the most desiderable option is that it will be a dialogue between them."

"Sarò il garante di tutti, il massimo garante delle regole."