Berlusconi is at it again! The former cruise-liner chanteur has single-handedly transformed Italy into a ridiculous and absurd state. His commercial and political inaptness and inadmissibility are only surpassed by the opposition parties’ indecisiveness and inertness. I am not surprised that the rouge media mogul turned politician enjoys the backing of the majority of Italians. Firstly this is a direct result of the seemingly eternal hegemony he has built. Secondly this is also a clear signal to the opposition parties that they are not a stable, feasible and credible force to be reckoned with. Veltroni’s attempt to create a bi-polar political system has badly backfired and now both the Democratic Party and the governing part(y)ies have realised that they cannot run the country without forming alliances with minor parties e.g. Lega Nord, Italia dei Valori, Christian-Democrats and Communists. Berlusconi will never stand down and neither will the law courts strip him naked. The only way to get rid of this shameless and vulgar emperor is by convincing people that there is a better alternative. Italians must be persuaded to have a good look at themselves and separate the reality shown on their TV screens from the one they can see, hear, smell and feel in their households, schools, factories, offices, streets, bars, piazzas and stadiums.
Tonio Fenech and Lawrence Gonzi are at it again. Without digging deep into the Arsenal-gate, it is quite clear that Gonzi and his henchmen do not give a hoot about democracy. If you thought Italy was in a bad state, we are right up there (or down there) with them. Gonzi and Berlusconi believe that once they have been voted into power on Election Day, they have a carte blanche and can do whatever they like for a whole term. Democracy has been diluted into a one-day exercise every five or so years. Democracy does not happen every five years. Democracy should be lived everyday. We should breathe democracy everyday, everywhere at all times and in all circumstances. People should not be governed by political lords. Politicians are supposed to be the people’s employees and not their rulers. Thus the result of one election on one particular day should not define the present and the future of a whole town, city, region, country or continent. The politicians put into power by the people are accountable to their electorate not only every five years but every single day. Furthermore journalists and the press should be accountable to the people and not to their commercial and political masters. Their job is to inform the people and not aide and protect the lords who have taken democracy to be some kind of oligarchy.
Alternattiva Demokratika is at it again. They do badly in the European elections and they go into hiding and disappear for months on end. They do not inform the public of what is going on within the party, what plans they have for the future and what their intentions are. I wonder how a party with very little visibility can ever contemplate to go into a hiding for such a long time. Whatever the party’s’ intentions are it cannot just disappear. The only way AD can ever beat this crumbling edifice is by being present in people’s lives. AD has to be present on ground level. AD has to be seen, heard and felt in households, village squares, town halls, bars and clubs, factories, offices, markets, schools and university. Anywhere humans are, AD has to be present. Unfortunately the more I look at AD from the outside, the more of a closed shop it becomes.








