“The national and international context runs the risk of diverting attention from this election campaign. It is important for citizens to be able to opt for a sustainable, credible and transparent program like ours. Even if someone tries to play dirty with us». A few days after the vote in Lazio and Lombardy, the leader of the 5 Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, takes the opportunity to remove some pebbles from his shoes.
President Conte, who played dirty?
«I am referring to the attempts to obscure our program and to appeal to the helpful vote. They are expedients of the old politics».
Do you fear the split vote?
“D’Amato’s call for separate voting is a sign of weakness. Letta also fell before him. Representatives of the Democratic Party demonstrate that they do not understand that citizens reward the programs and not the convenience calculations of the electoral cartels”.
In Lombardy you perform with Pd, in Lazio against Pd. Is there no risk of confusing your voters?
“Absolutely not. Voters can only be confused by unclear agendas and generic commitments. In Lombardy we built a concrete program and we did it with the availability of the Democratic Party. In Lazio, on the other hand, it was not possible, the Democratic Party did not agree in sharing this program and preferred to focus on the candidate nominated by Calenda who prevailed in the internal struggle between currents ».
Speaking of Calenda, in recent days you have invited him to support your minimum wage proposal. Is this the sign of possible post-electoral convergences?
“The aim of M5S is to achieve useful outcomes for citizens. In the case of the minimum wage, we want to offer 4 million workers the possibility of reaching a level of dignity. If Calenda is available, we will collect it, but political polemics do not interest us ».
Do you think it will be easier to dialogue with a PD led by Bonaccini or Schlein?
«It will be easier to dialogue with a Democratic Party that, through a process of refounding, clarifies its soul and its identity. Regardless of who will prevail ».
Does this soul no longer see him?
“At the moment, I would say no. Congress has not yet launched a phase of radical discussion, a real and profound debate. But that the Democratic Party does it with complete autonomy, I don’t want to interfere.”
Let’s go back to regionals. You are against building the wasteful energy plant in Rome. How do you intend to solve the waste problem?
“The objective is to strengthen selective collection. It is a path that cannot be resolved in a few months. Even making an incinerator takes many years. The date provided by Gualtieri is absolutely unrealistic (2026, ed), a bait. It is better to bet on the selective collection of waste, also introducing “one-off fees”, that is, paying according to the amount of waste produced. The waste cycle must be closed with less impactful proximity factory engineering, with cutting-edge technologies that are not based on incineration, because this technique is already outdated. Incinerators are no longer in line with European taxonomy and lead to a financial drain.”
You propose a regional citizen’s income. However, the national one you introduced failed on the active labor policy side. Why should it be any different this time?
«We have already proposed it in Puglia, where we are in the regional council. Lazio is the second Italian region for rising unemployment after Sicily. The government operation will expose the Lazio region to a social disaster. Faced with the irresponsibility of the Government, the Region will have to assume the responsibility of building a belt of protection for the people most in difficulty”.
Can you explain how the regional super bonus is supposed to work?
«Energy efficiency and the requalification of the housing stock is a systemic objective for the country. If the central government proves to be insensitive to the issue, we will have to do it at regional level, also due to the European directive on “green houses”. We need to get there gradually and not with obligations imposed at the end and difficult to fulfill”.
How do you intend to break waiting lists and solve the problems of emergency rooms in Rome and Lazio?
“Regional health expenditure is very substantial. Obviously, given the overcrowding of emergency rooms and the long queues, it is not a question of spending more, but of spending better. It means that we need to overcome the “hospital-centered” model, which has not proven to be effective, in favor of local medicine and home care. Then we need to stabilize the health personnel, those nurses and doctors who we called “heroes” during the pandemic and who were soon forgotten”.
Can you tell us how you chose Donatella Bianchi as your candidate for governor of Lazio?
«It is a civic candidacy, a guarantee of competence and professionalism. Twice he was president of the WWF, he showed great competence at the forefront of the ecological transition. I met her during the pandemic when there was Colao’s mutirão. So, comparing myself with my friends and with the other friends who are with us in this election campaign, I sounded out their availability. I’m glad he said yes.”
Is it true that you asked him to run on Christmas Eve while strolling around the Villa Borghese?
“Exactly, that’s correct.”
What is your best quality?
«Donatella knows how to listen, in the face of a policy that is often arrogant and knowledgable, but not always competent, she expresses an unusual depth of thought and solid competence».
Giorgia Meloni said that this will be the year of major reforms, referring to presidentialism and justice. Will you contribute?
«If the government wants to do good for the country, it has to recover much more resources for families in difficulty; it must introduce the minimum wage and it must intervene in extra profits to hit the companies that speculated during the emergency and still do. On the other hand, with regard to constitutional reforms, I suggest that the government be absolutely cautious and discuss with us the study of well-targeted interventions to make the executives more stable without disturbing the constitutional order».
What are you referring to?
“I think of constructive trust, also giving the prime minister the power to recall ministers. As for justice, I don’t know if I should expect the government not to be interested in any reforms, because the announced interventions seem to me to be decidedly oriented towards weakening the principles of legality and the fight against crime and corruption in public administration” .
Do you think that the controversy over the Demastro-Donzelli case is over?
“I reiterate that the two exponents of the FdI must resign for disloyalty to the institutions and compromise of ongoing investigations”.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
