Bassolino on Radio Crc: 'Mayors, substitutes for democracy'

“Twenty-five years ago there was the first direct election of mayors by citizens: it was a great political event. The parties were in crisis, some had even disappeared. The mayors acted as substitutes for democracy. Today, as then, they can play an important role”. This was stated by Antonio Bassolino, former mayor of Naples and former president of the Campania Region, speaking this morning on the program Barba e Capelli, on Radio Crc.

“Observing and respecting the laws is a duty for an administrator – Bassolino continued -. At the same time, every mayor has the right to fight to change laws, using the tools already provided for by the Constitution and by the legislation. In this sense, the initiatives of some regions to modify the Security decree seem completely legitimate to me: in Tuscany they are approving today an act to appeal to the Constitutional Court. I would seek all the ways to Parliament and to the Government so that the most incorrect parts of a law like this can also be modified through parliament”.

“Today, there is a problem of participation,” Bassolino continued on Radio Crc. “A democracy of minorities is emerging. We must broaden democratic participation. This is a big issue for everyone, including political parties. A challenge for the left. A year ago, for the left, the blow was heavy. A punch in the stomach. But politics can move mountains. With the pessimism of intelligence, you need the optimism of will. It can be done. It is not true that it cannot be done. It depends on us. When Berlusconi won, it seemed there was nothing to be done, but between 95 and 96 we brought together the left and Catholics and opened, with Prodi, the season of the Olive Tree: we won and changed. Even in 93, when I returned to Naples, the PDS was at 8 percent of the vote. We turned to the best forces in the city, we left the factions, we went to all the public places and in the space of eight months we won the elections. Without looking back, because the world is changing, but with the right spirit, we must begin the path of recovery, as a new Italian center-left, to reopen a perspective and re-present ourselves as an alternative government. The opposition is worth not only in the measure of how much it raises its voice, but also in how it deploys the broadest forces to be an alternative to those who govern today”.