Massimo D'Alema

"Those who steal should be put in jail. Unfortunately, this cannot be done because the majority generally protects them. This is the real scandal that newspapers should be reporting on, but they don't, because they are complicit."

"There is a desire for normalization, for a return to an old system of power, one on which the mafia has taken root and built its power. This is what alarms us. These are the facts we denounce. (October 5, 1989)"

"(About the Maastricht Treaty) It is clear that the idea of monetary unification and the free movement of capital without integration of development, budgetary, and social policies is deeply questionable, in crisis, and wrong. It is not only a limitation but also a neoliberal distortion of the process of European unity. (October 29, 1992)"

"Ah-ah! It's unthinkable that Dr. Berlusconi would enter politics. He has to take care of his debts. Stay put, he wouldn't get many votes anyway. This isn't Brazil! (1993)"

"I'll say it again: Amato is a liar and a poor man. He's someone who has to do anything to stay where he is, in his chair. But what can I do? Should I tell him to fuck off?"

"I find it difficult to consider Berlusconi a new man, given that he was one of the closest associates of those who governed Italy in the 1980s. (February 10, 1994)"

"Berlusconi reminds me of Kim Il-sung. (July 13, 1994)"

"Dear Cavaliere, you are like Ceausescu: he too controlled all television in Romania, ha ha! (August 2, 1994)"

"Berlusconi speaks with his typical authoritarian mindset. (September 10, 1994)"

"The PDS will never vote for an antitrust law that is not also voted for by the Polo. (June 12, 1995)"

"I don't care if Berlusconi wants the reform agreement for personal gain."

"I trust Berlusconi: I truly believe he is sincere when he says he wants reforms. (January 23, 1996)"

"(During a visit at Mediaset) I am not here to pay tribute to Berlusconi, but to a company that is a national treasure."

"The delegitimization of judges undermines the democratic order. (April 9, 1996)"

"(About Berlusconi) The fall of his leadership worries me, it could block the process of building a democracy of alternation in Italy. (May 31, 1996)"

"With Berlusconi we must rewrite the rules of the democratic state. (June 3, 1996)"

"Personally, I really like Berlusconi."

"I think it is unfair to attack Di Pietro and the Milan Pool, because these magistrates have done a great service to the country. (July 20, 1997)"

"(About Francesco Cossiga) He is now an old gentleman who enjoys himself. (January 11, 1998)"

"As for Mani Pulite, perhaps we should scale back the significance of this event a little. The investigations in Milan uncovered what everyone already knew. (February 27, 1998)"

"(Referring to Gnutti, Colaninno, and the irresistible rise of the “capitani coraggiosi” (brave captains)) This is a group of well-known entrepreneurs and managers who built Infostrada and Omnitel. Perhaps they are biting off more than they can chew, but that remains to be seen. As things stand, allow me to applaud their courage. (February 19, 1999)"

"Being a P2 member means having participated in an organization, a secret sect, that plotted against the state, and this has been confirmed by Parliament. I share this opinion, which was formed after the Anselmi Commission's investigation."

"I sincerely find it in poor taste to have held this meeting in Teano. The idea of transforming a page of our country's history into a staged event with Maroni in the place of Garibaldi or Victor Emmanuel is an offense to our country."

"Alessandro Natta represented a whole part of my life."

"This self-harm confirms what I have believed for years. The left is inherently evil. Only the existence of the right makes this evil bearable."

"[...] I travel around Italy and the dramatic theme that emerges is the profound suffering and great unease of the people. The country is pervaded by a sad passion. The only one who has painted a smile on his face is Il Cavaliere, but he, as we know, lives in another dimension that has nothing to do with reality."

"I am a reasonable man of the left who seeks to work for the good of the country."

"(Commenting on the crisis of the left-wing government in February 2007) It's a disaster, I'm missing Roma in the Champions League..."

"Berlusconi has an easy game, because we are coming out of a period of political vacuum."

"Nichi Vendola is the only one capable of reviving a modern version of left-wing politics; the others seem too disoriented to me."

"We all agree on moving beyond alliances that are simply everyone ganging up against someone else, which does not mean isolation. Now it is a question of forming alliances based on shared programs."

"It is to be feared that the Church will succumb to the temptation of power and that the political influence of Catholics will be directed toward obtaining legal protection for principles and values such as abortion and fertilization, which will then become laws imposed on everyone, undermining the secular nature of the state."

"The temptation of power is demonic and has always been, throughout the history of the Church, the source of misdeeds for which John Paul II had to ask forgiveness."

"The other day in parliament, we had to fight to defend the rights of severely disabled people to receive assistance worthy of the name. And we were told by that pocket-sized brute, Minister Brunetta, that there are abuses. But if there are abuses, they must be tackled without removing rights. With his virulent campaign against everything public, Brunetta risks attacking essential public services and throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

"One of the reasons why I can come across as difficult even to some left-wing voters is that I always engage in politics, even during election campaigns."

"Italian newspapers are not so much harmful as they are irrelevant. [...] The comparison with foreign newspapers is humiliating. They deal with serious issues, while here we only print nonsense. [...] I find this kind of journalism repugnant."

"Interviewer: “You said in 1995 that the Northern League was an offshoot of the left.” D'Alema: No, of the labor movement, and it was a very accurate analysis. Now that workers are voting for the League, everyone is saying it, but I said it 15 years ago."

"At Piaggio there were real workers, not the kind who called in sick when there was a football match."

"Nichi Vendola can mobilize an electorate that remained on the sidelines in the last elections, but I don't think he can be a viable leader to mobilize a center-left coalition: I wouldn't vote for him."

"We have a democratic form of leadership: leaders can change. Meanwhile, the Italian right wing has been under Berlusconi's imperishable command for sixteen years. However, I would like to point out that this is their anomaly, not ours. Because Berlusconi, who lost the elections twice, in 1996 and 2006, nevertheless remained at the head of the right wing, something that does not happen in any democratic country. And why has Berlusconi, despite losing two elections, remained at the head of the right for almost twenty years? Because he is its 'owner', not its leader. And so this is a completely different concept. Now, if you think that the center-left should also have an owner, you are mistaken. We are a free association."

"Vendola is part of the left wing that has been Prodi's biggest problem since his first government."

"(About Italy) A deeply divided and confused country: the cornerstones of shared national history are being called into question, and public discourse is becoming increasingly vulgar."

"(About the Italian Roman Catholic Church) [...] instead of asking the Church not to interfere, interfere yourselves! If not now, when?"

"Never before has there been such a need to return to working together. Can we really believe that this link between ethics and politics can be rebuilt without the political presence of Italian Catholics? No, that would be an illusion."

"[...] the Catholic contribution to democracy in Italy has been extraordinary. I am convinced that without returning to the myth of political unity among Catholics, it is possible, even in a pluralistic society, to achieve unity among Catholics at the ecclesial level as a fundamental component for the cohesion of the country."

"Storace's right wing enters the government: a sign of dialogue and openness, a good sign for moderates."

"I am not a pacifist. I am for freedom, democracy, and human rights."

"The truth is that this center-right is sailing by sight. The only compass is Berlusconi's personal interests: trials, business, women. Outside of this, there is no longer any politics. There are no choices, no substance. There is nothing."

"We are facing a challenge of constitutional proportions. We must offer a vision for the future reconstruction of the country. The ruins left behind by Berlusconi are enormous: democratic rules have been devastated, principles of legality trampled underfoot, institutions debased. We must put in place a plan to revive the economy and growth after the last ten years wasted by Berlusconism. It is up to us in the PD to do all this, with a proposal that must be addressed first and foremost to the Italian people and that aims to unite the broadest possible democratic coalition."

"The center-right did not lose the elections because of its harsh rhetoric. This is a self-consoling argument: Berlusconi has always used harsh rhetoric, being a populist extremist."