“I want to say that the government is evaluating [extending the state of emergency] on the basis of organisational and operational instances, and certainly not to exploit it, like somebody went so far as to say.” This is how the lawyer-turned-PM, Giuseppe Conte, addressed the nation through its parliament hoping to quash the mounting criticism.
Members of the opposition have been heavily critical of Mr. Conte’s expressed desire to maintain active until October 31st the state of emergency, a measure that allows Rome to override regional governments to quickly respond to calamities, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday the Senate supported Mr. Conte and extended it until October 15th, an earlier date than the original, to appease the opposition. Addressing the latter, the PM asked not to create confusion among citizens and assured that the democratic functioning of the State would not be hindered.
The following day, the lower chamber of parliament also greenlighted the measure, despite the opposition voting against it.
“The [Covid-19] emergency exists only in your heads, and it’s harmful for Italy and Italians,” declared the leader of the opposition Matteo Salvini while addressing his fellow senators. He stressed that furthering the emergency status in the current situation is “inappropriate and illegitimate” and called for a return to an “orderly normality.”
His ally Giorgia Meloni, whose party belongs to the same right-wing coalition as Mr. Salvini’s, called the measure “extremely grave” and dubbed it a part of a “liberticidal drift enacted by the government.” She had lamented the leader’s preference to override parliament and legislate by decree, as Mr. Conte had done during the worst period of the pandemic.
However, as Mr. Conte himself warned, Italy is not out of the woods yet. Although Covid-19 wards are nearly empty, there has been a light increase in infections during the past days, as Italians reclaim their liberties and resume some semblance of normal life. Elsewhere in Europe, some suspect the beginning of a second wave.
Sanitary measures, such as social distancing and mandatory masks in indoor public places, are still in place throughout the country. Nonetheless, Mr. Salvini and Ms. Meloni have been increasingly critical of such measures, even participating to an anti-mask event in parliament. They reiterate what has been said by a small panel of experts and virologists, who deem the measures “excessive” seeing as the pandemic, in their view, has mostly abated.
Together with the third member of their coalition Silvio Berlusconi, this morning the two right-wing leaders have published an open letter on Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s leading economic paper, outlining their conditions for their support of issuing more debt.
The letter carried the leaders’ promise to “not act in the dark” and their demand for the government to disclose spending plans for the money deriving from the creation of debt. Their request includes protection and funds for workers and families in need as well as an overhaul of some welfare measures deemed inefficient in their current form.
The trio have voiced their dismay at the fact that the current government seems to seldom take into account their position when approving major legislation. They threatened to withhold their MPs’ votes on Wednesday’s vote for the approval of a new fiscal gap; nonetheless, the motion passed thanks to independent votes and despite the centre-right’s abstention.
The fiscal gap allows Italy to issue more debt and diverge from European medium-term economic growth goals for the third time this year. This exceptional procedure has been allowed by the EU in the wake of the pandemic and was favoured by Mr. Conte as a mean to aid the Italian economy.
