Politicians From Italy

"Responding to ‘Do you intend to found your own party?’ I haven't thought about it yet. To those who tell me to return to the M5S, I reply that I would only sit down at the table if they left the Draghi government.[...] If it does not return to political battles, it risks becoming nothing more than a party of power."

"The M5S is a phase of my life that is now over, but if they were to come back into favour, it would depend on the Movement's political agenda. Clearly, the battles that were a priority for me were not a priority for others. I consider myself a political activist. Leaving the M5S has given me a freedom that I did not have before. I believe it is my duty and right to exercise that freedom and to take political positions that are often and willingly contrary. [...] I realised that almost no one on television has the courage to take a clear stance in favour of the Palestinian people because there is a conformism that does not even exist in the United States. [...] Israel's policy towards the Palestinians is a policy of apartheid. To date, there are no two states, Letta says, but because he does not know what to say, he does not have the courage to take a stand. Didn't Foreign Minister Di Maio do the same? I told him publicly that I disagree with the Movement's foreign policy. If I were part of the Italian institutions today, I would immediately recognise the State of Palestine. There was more freedom among politicians in the first Republic than there is now."

"Berlusconi is angry with the Five Star Movement because our anti-corruption law is emptying his party."

"I would like Boschi to remain in government, firmly entrenched in her position, so that the PD loses votes."

"The day the Five Star Movement (but that will never happen) were to form an alliance with the parties responsible for the destruction of Italy, I would leave the Five Star Movement."

"You yourselves have now become victims of a certain system because you no longer have the slightest freedom to oppose financial capitalism. Why? Because the “bankocracy” has effectively placed its people within the institutions, which is why, in the last four years alone, dozens of decrees have been passed in favour of private banks and no decrees in favour of citizens who are suffering."

"The problem, and I don't know if Italians are aware of this, is that today the Bank of Italy, which is supposed to supervise private banks and prevent them from failing, is no longer a public bank, because it is controlled by the very private banks it is supposed to supervise."

"I want to vote... I want to vote because I can't stand them anymore... I can't stand them anymore! [...] It's thanks to the Five Star Movement that there isn't... we have channelled participation into beautiful, beautiful democratic paths! [...] I want citizens to vote!"

"Travelling is an investment in happiness."

"(Addressed to the Renzi Government) With this agenda, which you consider populism and we consider practicality, we demand that Members of Parliament earn €5,000 gross, or approximately €3,100 net per month, which is more than enough to live a dignified life. [...] This is a different idea that we have of the country compared to you. Don't complain, though, if you no longer have consensus, don't complain if Renzi has to be defended by his security detail every day, he who said, “the people defend me”, but perhaps meant “the agent”. Don't complain anymore if they throw manure at you – and we condemn this, for God's sake – if they don't let you enter a square without bodyguards. Don't complain! We walk with our heads held high and carry on with this battle. We ask you to be part of this project, to allocate this money to small and medium-sized enterprises, because doing your duty improves the quality of life. If you want to do it well, otherwise you take responsibility, but know that when we are in those seats, as the governing force, the first thing we will do in a single day will be this cut, and seeing you as the minority that day will be a pleasure."

"What is the difference today between the PD and a bank? Banks manage our money in a murky way, just like the parties that have pocketed billions in public funding by changing the name to “electoral reimbursements”. Banks then sell toxic products, taking the piss out of citizens by saying ‘don't worry, this bond is safe’, and then many people have lost all their savings. And isn't the PD doing the same thing? Isn't it selling toxic products and passing them off as safe? Isn't the Jobs Act a toxic product? Aren't the “Good School” and Bail-In toxic products? Isn't the constitutional reform made by Renzi-Boschi-Verdini a toxic product? Isn't Renzi taking us for a ride when he says, “We will abolish Equitalia”? The M5S presented the law to abolish Equitalia in Parliament, and the PD rejected it."

"(About Isis) We know perfectly well who finances them, how they are financed, which war industries help them, who gives them money, but we cannot intervene because our hands are tied, because we were put there by the same powerful forces that control these international trafficking operations. It is called a conflict of interest; you are regularly in conflict of interest and never act in the interests of the Italian people. [...] If the first casualty of war is truth, the barrage of lies that are told daily about the Libyan issue show us that we are at war, and the Five Star Movement will oppose this war in every way possible."

"In this Parliament, even as subjects of the United States of America, the concept of “preventive war” has been theorised and endorsed, which is an international disgrace that has caused damage in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and everywhere else. Today, you are moving from the concept of preventive war to war “without the knowledge of the Italian people”, all without their knowledge, and we do not trust the words of the Prime Minister, who has always contradicted himself. We cannot trust your words either, but we do trust the Italian people, who are more alert than you and who know that this war would be yet another infamous war and could lead to a new Vietnam. The Italian people do not want this war."

"We must not go to war in Libya because if we go to war in Libya, the only result we will achieve is to reunite terrorist factions, tribes and counter-tribes, all against Italy, which has already betrayed them once and a second betrayal would never be forgiven. So, if you want another Vietnam, go to Libya, the responsibility will be yours alone, otherwise we should not go to war in Libya, especially if there is no government of national unity."

"(Addressed to Minister Gentiloni, on possible military intervention in Libya) A sovereign country, Minister Gentiloni, tells the truth even if it is uncomfortable, it is not something you can hide under the carpet, sweeping it under the rug and trying, as always, to tell convenient lies, as if it were methadone that you give to a public opinion that is in fact dormant, anaesthetised, accustomed to everything."

"(Addressed to the MPs of the Democratic Party) I would like to remind you that the Five Star Movement does not receive a single euro of public funding for political parties. Zero! What you have screwed up, and you are not even able to pay for the party headquarters in Rome. And tell that freeloader Orfini to cough up the money. Secondly, we want to know how much money the criminal Buzzi gave to the Democratic Party through Mafia Capitale and whether he was present at your fundraising dinners. Until you answer, shut up."

"If the poor or migrants were banks, you would have already saved them."

"(After the announcement of Maurizio Lupi's resignation from his position as Minister of Infrastructure and Transports) Do you know what corruption means? It means breaking into many pieces. Corruption has broken this country into many pieces, crumbling it and guaranteeing abundant feeding troughs for a few and crumbs for everyone else. Corruption has produced cancer in the “land of fires” and the abandonment of Italy by its best young people; it has caused sleepless nights for fathers who do not know how to pay for their children's studies, panic attacks for recent graduates who do not know how to find work. Corruption has produced the tragedy of entrepreneurs who would rather hang themselves than tell anyone they are going bankrupt, and the tears of sick people forced to wait months to find a bed in a hospital. Corruption has turned Italy into a jungle where criminals obtain contracts, million-pound bank accounts, dream homes and luxury boats moored on the coasts of Liguria, Sardinia or in some port in the Gargano. Liguria, Sardinia and the Gargano, where thousands of Italians wait for crumbs from a corrupt state that cannot even protect them from the rain."

"It is important for us to identify a common enemy today, and that enemy is centralised power: a sort of centralised, Northern European Nazism that is destroying us. They are creating – with the Jobs Act and the TTIP, among other things – a sort of Walmart generation, or 300 euro generation, which will produce more and more slaves. They essentially want to colonise Southern Europe."

"Nigeria, go to Wikipedia: 60% of the territory is in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists from Boko Haram, the rest is Ebola."

"We should stop considering terrorists as inhuman beings with whom it is not even worth engaging in discussion. This is a complex but decisive point. In the era of drones and total arms imbalance, terrorism is, unfortunately, the only violent weapon left to those who rebel. [...] If my village is bombed by a remote-controlled aircraft, I have only one way to defend myself apart from non-violent techniques, which are the best: to load myself with explosives and blow myself up in a underground station. I am neither justifying nor approving this, far from it. I am trying to understand. Due to their nature as subjects who respond to violent actions against them, terrorists cannot be defeated by sending more drones, but by elevating them to the status of interlocutors. This is a difficult but necessary task, otherwise the phenomenon will only grow."

"Italy should treat terrorism like cancer. Cancer is fought by eliminating its causes, not by dealing exclusively with its effects."

"I can't manage to be completely vegetarian. I can give up meat for months, but then I inevitably fall back into old habits. Nevertheless, I have reduced my consumption considerably, which is good from a physical, mental and political point of view. Physically, because eating less meat makes you feel better; mentally, because eating dead animals is not good for the soul; and politically, because the social and economic consequences of meat abuse are unimaginable. [...] Eating less meat is a political choice that each of us must make. It is difficult, at least for me it is, and that is precisely why legislators (the M5S environment and agriculture committees are addressing the issue with various bills) must urgently address the issue."

"Freemasonry is the cultural matrix of the Risorgimento and the founding fathers of the nation"

"(On abortion) [...] an unfortunate necessity that women are forced to resort to. I don't think it's a right."

"[...] I don't see why it is necessary to have an anti-fascist license to express one's opinions. I also claim consideration for Mussolini, who is a statesman, as were Cavour, Stalin, and all men who have held positions of state: it is the first definition of statesman in the dictionary."

"I believe that classes with separate characteristics (see w:it:classi differenziali) would help children with great potential to express themselves to the fullest, and even those with more difficulties would be helped in a special way. It is not discriminatory. For students with problems, I rely on specialists. I am not specialized in disabilities."

"Carla Bruni was my classmate from elementary school through middle school. Her father was an important industrialist in the tire industry, linked to the Pirelli group. She was a smart, lively child with a great passion for music."

"Quality is the story of differences."

"(In elementary and middle school) There were those who had spent many years in Africa, those in Morocco, those in South America; their homes were filled with ever-changing and stimulating scents. It was then that I began to think of differences in language and culture as new territories to explore."

"What I criticize is the exhibitionist flaunting of this taste, which often tends to override what is, in fact, the common sense of the majority. Gay Pride? If they want to hold a parade in Rome or Turin, let them do it. One might wonder why they want to show off. Gay Pride claims to be fighting for rights, but even that is debatable. Rights are not differentiated; rights are for everyone. There are no rights for gays, rights for heterosexuals, rights for blondes, for brunettes, for those with blue eyes: there are rights for people. It's exhibitionism."

"If I see a homosexual, I'm not like Dracula with a crucifix."

"(About volleyball player Paola Egonu) I have never had any doubts about her Italian citizenship, and I am personally and wholeheartedly proud that she represents our country with her sporting excellence, but this cannot visually conceal her origins, which I am convinced she herself is proud of."

"The first definition of statesman is a man of state, therefore Musssolini is a statesman. This is stated in the Treccani encyclopedia."

"Italia, Italia! o tu cui feo la sorte Dono infelice di bellezza, ond' hai Funesta dote d'infiniti guai Che in fronte scritti per gran doglia porte: Deh fossi tu men bella o almen piu forte, Onde assai più ti paventasse, o assai T'amasse men, chi dal tuo bello a' rai Par che si strugga, e pur ti sfida a morte."

"I haven't changed my opinion on gay people. Politically and legally, I am in favour of non-discrimination, but morally, I think what the Catholic Church thinks: homosexuality is a moral disorder. If God gave you a male body, you can never be a woman. You can never get pregnant. And pretending to be something you are not makes you feel bad; you lose your life in exchange for a fiction."

"In conclusion, I would like to remind posterity – but we all know this because it is written in the history books – that Mr Buttiglione was rejected as European Commissioner by the European Parliament because of his countless statements, defined by the European Parliament as discriminatory against homosexuals. Buttiglione's words and statements over the years regarding homosexuals are not linked to ideological reasons, but to personal reasons."

"He has the unbearable pretension of appearing to be a philosopher when he is, at most, a professor of philosophy."

"As an ethical relativist, the only certainty that sustains me is not wanting and not knowing how to impose my way of life on Professor Buttiglione. He cannot say the same."

"He makes one mistake after another and says incredible nonsense. He has destroyed three parties. But as a writer he is exceptional."

"By signing the motion of no confidence in the Berlusconi government together with Bossi, Buttiglione has shown himself to be a double-dealing fool."

"Silvio sincerely loved his wife, and the break-up was a profound trauma that he tried to overcome in the worst possible way. Bunga bunga was his response to the pain. I heard him talk about Veronica: he didn't see her as a sexual object, she was the woman of his life, the mother of his children..."

"(About Silvio Berlusconi) The Prime Minister has a terrible fear of women. Jokes, vulgar remarks and sports bar comments are just a way of avoiding any real engagement with that world. But the more someone acts like a bully, the more they try to reduce women to sex objects, the more it shows that they feel insecure and unable to handle the situation."

"I'm better at wooing than Berlusconi: I can prove it to you."

"From a political and social point of view, I am against any discrimination against gay people. But morally, I think it is wrong. However, there are many things that are morally wrong but which the law should not prosecute."

"There is a politicisation of the judiciary that negatively distinguishes our country in the European context and shakes citizens' confidence in the judiciary. An entire political class has been swept away with a few convictions, but with many notices of investigation, sometimes with the suspicion that these were carefully calibrated to achieve political effects."

"We are writing to you with a request to improve the quality of life in the Senate. The refreshment bar does not serve ice cream. We believe it would be useful to do so and we are certain that this reflects the wishes of many. Would it be possible to arrange this?"

"Silvio is great. We do not regret the good things we have done with him, but he is the past, let's say it loud and clear. The country can no longer hold out and needs someone to show the way to the future."

"Can I link Luca di Montezemolo and Pope Benedict XVI? Both condemn ethical relativism, understood as the transfiguration of the Italian art of getting by, looking out for oneself and disregarding the common good."

"Children who only have a mother and no father are the children of a not very good mother. And children who only have a father are not children, because a man alone can make a robot. But he cannot make children."