Italy: A campaign of insults and name-calling

By Vaiju Naravane

ROME, MAY 8. ``They are at each other's throats like dogs. They are dogs and may they all go to hell with their lies and their false promises.'' Strong words indeed from a practicing Roman Catholic who has a crucifix swinging gently from the rearview mirror of his cab. But Antonio, 52, and father of three who has been ``putting in a eleven-hour day for the last years and taking home a pittance'' is prepared to damn his country's politicians twice over.

Although Italy has one of the most generous pension and health care schemes in Europe, and where tax evasion is something of a national sport, Antonio feels his standard of living has been eroded steadily in the last decade and a half. ``I no longer expect anything from these laddri (thieves). Look at Berlusconi. No one knows where the money came from. He's managed to cover his tracks so well that even the judges cannot get at him. What will he do when the entire State machinery is at his disposal? He is bound to put his hand into the till again. Old habits die hard, you know. The only person even remotely worth voting for is Gianfranco Fini. They say he's a fascist. But all that is old hat,'' says Antonio hurtling at breakneck speed in the crowded, narrow streets of Rome's Jewish ghetto.

Italy goes to the polls on May 13 to elect a new parliament and municipal councils in what political commentators say is a ``particularly vicious and savage campaign''. The President, Mr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi called on his country's feuding politicians to lower the tone of their slanging matches after a particularly bitter exchange between the Left-wing leader, Mr. Massimo D'Alema and the conservative candidate, Mr. Silvio Berlusconi. It is a campaign where insults and vulgar jokes are being freely traded between the contenders.

``I shall never tire of repeating that good governance in a healthy democracy requires mutual respect,'' Mr. Ciampi said. He has so far kept out of the political arena. But the sheer viciousness of Saturday's name calling contest between Mr. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's richest man who is the leading Conservative candidate and Mr. D'Alema, the leader of the Democratic Left Party left even the most liberal voters reeling. Opinion polls no longer give Mr. Berlusconi the 20-point lead he once enjoyed over the Left-wing Olive Tree Alliance which is led by Mr. Francesco Rutelli, the good-looking former Mayor of Rome.

``I would not touch Rutelli, not with a barge pole. Berlusconi makes my stomach churn. So who is left? There is Emma Bonino, the former European Human Rights Commissioner but her political tactics and hunger striking have put me off,'' says 44- year-old journalist Marcella. Ms. Bonino, who is leading a small independent list which has tied up with the Radical Party, has been on hunger strike to protest against the ``unfair treatment'' meted out to her party by the media, particularly television, which either belongs to Mr. Berlusconi or is State-run. Last week, she broke off her hunger strike only to start again on Sunday.

Mr. Berlusconi, who is estimated to have spent over $300 million on his campaign so far, would like this poll to become a plebiscite in his favour and has done his level best to needle his opponents. He himself is locked into a rather uneasy coalition with his former allies, Mr. Umberto Bossi of the anti- immigrant Northern League and Mr. Gianfranco Fini of the National Alliance, the re-baptised if not entirely reformed former Italian Fascist Party. Mr. Francesco Rutelli was not a unanimous but a compromise candidate. He has received quite a few barbs and not enough backing from his own political family. But in recent weeks as the possibility of Mr. Berlusconi being elected became stronger, the leftists have closed ranks and Mr. Rutelli has managed to narrow the gap between him and the leader of Forza Italia. But it is Italy's 22 per cent undecided voters who will seal their fates.

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