Politicians From Italy

"When I think of a new Prodi, I think of someone who has to imagine three missions. To put forward a package of proposals to give young people hope again in terms of housing, work, and family. To bring investment in knowledge back to the center and build a tax system that helps those who want to do something."

"You have a clear choice: either you're over there with Meloni and Salvini, or you're over here, and over here there's only us. The PD will be the leading party."

"The start of this legislative term is the worst possible. It begins with inflammatory rhetoric from those who won the elections. Instead of bringing peace to the country, the winners are dividing it. But those who sow the wind will reap the whirlwind. I invite you to consider that this method is truly wrong. It destroys any possibility of a relationship between the majority and the opposition, which is a relationship in the interest of the country. These are choices that shift the majority even further to the right and send a message that confirms the worst concerns around Europe. I wonder what perverse logic lies behind these appointments, which go against the interests of the country."

"(About the fall of Kabul in 2021) The escape from Kabul and the tragedy of a people. Twenty years of wrong choices, in which we too, unfortunately, played a part. The West is falling apart. And we are only at the beginning of the disasters to come."

"I don't think this majority is capable of providing the country with a stable government. They are only capable of giving the country internal strife and permanent conflict. This is the opposite of what the country needs right now. We are close to a recession, there is a war between Russia and Ukraine, and an energy crisis. We need a government that governs, not an executive that spends its time arguing."

"[...] I hate House of Cards. I think it's the worst television drama that could possibly be broadcast. The idea of politics that comes out of it is a politics made up entirely of intrigue and terrifying things."

"I am unable to give Renzi's government a rating. Fortune favors the bold, and Renzi, who is undoubtedly talented and bold, has been fortunate."

"We must push harder on Europe for integration, to achieve more results, to be able to answer concrete questions. The decisive factor for Europe to function in an enlarged scenario is to eliminate, once and for all, the right of veto and the unanimity rule. This is the only way to work together. The right of veto is never used for the general interest. It is always a tool used to gain advantages for oneself, for short-term or personal interests."

"The Jobs Act was a step forward, but it wasn't enough: much more needs to be done in the workplace because the real problem today is unemployment, and workers who have lost their jobs need to be protected. There is still not enough protection in place. More protections need to be added."

"The ISAF mission will end in 2014, after which our presence will be completely different, dedicated to training Afghan forces. The extent of our presence will be discussed bilaterally and, of course, in the Italian Parliament. We intend to reassure Karzai that we want to ensure a future of economic progress for the country in our mutual interest."

"Here, I want to tell everyone: I didn't write Jo Condor on my head. I learned it as a child and I'll prove it when the time comes, in the sense that we'll play offensively."

"The ISAF mission must come to a successful conclusion: we are part of a system in which everyone plays their part. No free country can shirk its commitment to stabilizing peace. Only with NATO, the UN, and the European Union can we work together to resolve the problems caused by terrorism and the absence of peace."

"We place our complete trust in you, President Napolitano, with the same fervor as Pope Francis when he addresses the Almighty."

"I said it in the policy speech on which the Government won the vote of confidence, and I repeat it here today: the positive solution, with the return home of marines Latorre and Girone, is a commitment of our Government."

"In Sochi, I will reiterate Italy's opposition to any discriminatory legislation against gay people, both in sports and outside of sports."

"The issue of the agreement with the center is strategic for us. With this electoral law, there is no room for a third position. If the new pole does not join us, it will inevitably be reabsorbed by the other side. A third pole that goes it alone, or an isolated radical left like that of Vendola, would emerge from the polls with little more than a right to a platform."

"I would like to ensure that the new party is constructed somewhat like the encyclopedia Wikipedia, somewhat like a painting by Van Gogh. As with Wikipedia, in the PD each of the hundreds of thousands of participants must contribute their own skills, which in certain fields are certainly greater than mine and those of the center-left leaders. And, like Van Gogh's paintings, the new party must have strong colors: a yellow that is yellow, a blue that is blue."

"We are willing to go beyond Berlusconi and work with a government led by a responsible person such as Roberto Maroni."

"(About the death of Mino Martinazzoli) We mourn the loss of a great teacher and an irreplaceable political and cultural figure. From today, we are more alone."

"I continue to believe that trade unions and politics should remain independent. Just as politics should not interfere in the decisions of trade unions, trade unions should not interfere in the internal decisions of political parties."

"Deep sadness at the passing of Scalfaro. He taught us sacred respect for institutions. He defended and served the Constitution above all else."

"(About the Democratic Party) We are not a beached whale; instead, we must become like Nemo the fish."

"Primary elections are not mandatory. If winning meant not holding them..."

"We are linking the economic recovery of our country to Expo, and this means that everyone must commit themselves. The Expo will be at the heart of the recovery and will be successful if it becomes a symbol of national unity. For this reason, I guarantee the total commitment of the government."

"The government will fall next week; it is clear that it is now hanging by a thread."

"As Bersani said, we consider it legitimate that, like any defendant, Berlusconi should defend himself in court and against the trial. Of course, legitimate does not mean appropriate or fitting for the behavior of a statesman..."

"Italy must emerge from its state of underestimation and self-harm, and Expo will be the perfect opportunity to do so."

"The current leadership groups have a historic responsibility; this is our last chance to avoid being overwhelmed. Losing again to Berlusconi would mean depriving the country of its last chance to avoid the impending decline. Polls and common sense suggest that the PD allied with Di Pietro and Vendola would lead to the prime minister's re-election, so we need to build something broader."

"How can one force — I wrote — a female worker who does the triple duty of worker, housewife, and mother, not to be concerned about motherhood?"

"The rice‑weeders (risaiole), for example, whom I saw the whole day with the head under the burning sun and legs in muddy water, defenseless from the bites of leeches; poorly fed; thrown at night on the common straw of the berth. And, after forty days of toil and torment, crammed into cattle wagons for the return home: with little money, malaria in the blood, and in the bottom of the soul a revolt that welled up in their sharp and bitter songs."

"I would remind the likeable and astute Mr Orlando that you, astute Mr Orlando, were Minister of Labour for about a year and a half and did nothing on this issue (of the minimum wage)."

"[...] not only do we not want humiliation to enter school, we also want it to disappear from the world of work."

"[...] As economists explain, inflation is a particularly unfair tax, because it affects those who have more and those who have less in the same way and, therefore, hurts those who have less more, a bit like the flat tax, but this inflation, due to its composition, further accentuates this characteristic."

"[...] already today, the citizenship income functions as a form of income support for many workers. Over the past three years, between 15 and 20 per cent of citizenship income recipients were people in regular employment."

"[...] we believe that it is urgent to introduce a statutory minimum wage into our labour market regulation system. Low-paid work was already a serious scourge before the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy."

"[...] the citizenship income, like any basic income, is a factor that promotes competition and stimulates wage growth, especially in the lower income brackets."

"Now, if one speaks of the limitations of capitalism, there is always someone who will label you a communist or draw antagonistic conclusions."

"The problem at the moment, in the PD, is not the difference in ideas but the silence of ideas."

"[...] Does collective bargaining today have the same degree of pervasiveness and homogeneity that it had in the past? Studies tell us no, because poor-quality jobs are more concentrated in the south, in small businesses and in the service sector, i.e. where trade unions have weakened, where jobs have become more precarious, where undeclared work is more prevalent, and where the failure to address these disparities is one of the causes of the regional divides that characterise our country."

"The truth is that the third pole has worked on several occasions to break up the alliance between the PD and the M5S in order to increase its position, and the M5S currently believes that going it alone will strengthen its policy choices."

"The appointment of Draghi has had an initial effect. Salvini became a pro-European within 24 hours."

"Are we sure that the appointments of Fontana and La Russa as presidents of the Chambers are stumbling blocks? I don't think so. These choices are linked to the presence of Meloni at the Vox rally, where the star was Polish Prime Minister (Mateusz Morawiecki), and where there were those nostalgic for South American dictatorships and representatives of the far right. Meloni pointed to Poland and the Czech Republic as models."

"The legal profession is a bulwark in the defence of rights and democracy. It is a fundamental voice in the protection of guarantees, especially for those who have less of a voice to defend themselves."

"(About the Democratic Party) We are paying the price for never having seriously addressed the cultural profile of the Renzi era. Renzi has been used as a scapegoat."

"Interviewer: How can we combat the Mafia? Andrea Orlando: By not only focusing on how to combat the Mafia, but also on how to build social, economic, political, institutional and professional entities that are impervious to the Mafia. Antibodies are not only effective against the Mafia, but also against other phenomena such as corruption, which is increasingly being used by the Mafia to infiltrate institutions. For example, I believe it is essential to have a law regulating the functioning of political parties and lobbies."

"The majority vocation, as conceived by the PD, no longer exists. A radical, post-ideological wing has formed, as well as a liberal wing."

"[...] Is collective bargaining still capable of pushing wages upwards, as it did for a long period in our country? And the answer, again, if we look at the last thirty years, is unfortunately “no”. Negotiation alone does not push wages up, so much so that wages in Italy have been stagnant for thirty years."

"(About Attilio Fontana's statements about race) The words are a Freudian slip, because what he said is what many people think, and this can only be cause for concern. I believe that behind much of the xenophobic propaganda that has been fuelled in recent years there is also a racist element."

"One of the leading contemporary scholars of law and the state, Ronald Dworkin, wrote: “Equal respect is the sovereign virtue of the political community: if it is lacking, government is merely tyranny; but when a nation's wealth is distributed very unequally, as is currently the case even in very prosperous nations, then its equal respect appears suspect”. So, if we want to give our fellow citizens the equal respect they deserve in the law and in the exercise of jurisdiction, we must take action to ensure that the nation's wealth is not distributed very unequally."

"We have known for years that Salvini had decided to fan the flames of people's fears about the wave of migration. Now we have discovered that Di Maio and the Five Star Movement are doing the same."