One in six deputy. The agreement is this: to ensure the representation of the various parties, and also the safety distance. By the eye, I’m even less. Semi-deserted room. It is not a time of war, but of an epidemic. Piazza Montecitorio empty and silent. Carabinieri garrison. Nurses in overalls, gloves and mask take the temperature to those who enter. Closed the buvette, even here not even a coffee; those who want can ask for a travel basket with two sandwiches, a bottle of water and an apple; about twenty ladies book themselves. At each entrance, at each door, at each lift, a disinfectant dispenser, each member of Parliament then has his own bottle. Everyone received an email and a whatsapp: anyone with symptoms does not come to the Chamber and call the doctor; anyone who has had contact with a positive communicates it immediately.
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Four deputies have the virus – Claudio Pedrazzini from the mixed group, Edmondo Cirielli from Fratelli d’Italia, Anna Ascani and Luca Lotti from the Democratic Party – the Chamber cannot become an outbreak, even more so now that finally Conte speaks. The Prime Minister does not have the clutch bag and has some white thread in his very black hair. A shop assistant in a green mask and white gloves hands him the microphone. Mask and gloves also for Members, they will take them off just to talk. Ten minutes late, the time to listen to the daily bulletin, always dramatic but a little less today. Conte departs well, heartfelt, cites the military trucks that take away the dead, expresses solidarity with family members, joins the applause of the classroom, the most significant moment of the session, which lasts two minutes. The remaining forty spin away boring. Conte just can’t resist renouncing the forensic language, the “regulatory process aimed at reconciling”, the “implementation”, the “legislative intervention under development”.
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THE there are three basic concepts. First: we did what we could do; as Manzoni said “in hindsight the pits are full”; the time will come to take stock, “frigido pacatoque animo”, coldly and calmly; but that hour is not now, now it is time to act. Second: we had to take exceptional measures, but without violating democratic principles. Third: the money is there, we put 25 billion and we will put as much, we have activated guarantees for 350 billion and as many will come; however it is not enough; we cannot do only Italian debt, we must make shared European debt; eight countries are with us, including France and Spain. Masks are missing, it is true; unfortunately they raised prices, asked for money in advance, blocked exports, there are “little transparent intermediaries” and “real international scams”; but they will come. The real issue is the economy. We need new tools, “a leap in quality”: “An extraordinary emergency is answered with extraordinary means”. So Italy tries to put itself at the head of a front of Mediterranean countries that ask for Eurobonds, which push the Nordics to make common debt, to cover the necessary expenses. “We will guarantee liquidity for families and businesses,” says Conte. Like, he doesn’t say it. One thing is sure: more than eight thousand doctors responded to a call for 300 posts; now 500 nurses are needed to be deployed in the front row, the premier says he is convinced that many more will be offered. And he quotes a letter from Michela, a nurse in the Covid ward of the hospital in Senigallia: “With great dignity she reminded me of her and her colleagues’ efforts and risks, asked me to make sure they are not forgotten, when the emergency is over . Michela, we will not forget you, these days so risky, so stressful ». More applause.
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The debate is having difficulty. Many group leaders are not there, Mariastella Gelmini of Forza Italia, for example, remained in the tormented Brescia, instead Roberto Occhiuto speaks, reproaches Di Maio who smiles, “there is nothing to smile about”. Here is the commissioner of the Chamber, Gregorio Fontana, who is from Bergamo and on the WhatsApp profile wrote “molamia”, do not give up: “It was the motto of the Alpine troops, it became that of Atalanta, now it is the motto of all of us. Every day two or three people I know die. Wherever there has been an earthquake or a flood the Bergamo people have come to help; now we need help ». Davide Crippa dei 5 Stelle thanks everyone, “even those who stay at home”. The League makes people talk Guido Guidesi da Codogno: «We in the first red zone were the first to be abandoned. We didn’t see anyone except the checkpoint cops who were kind. We had to do it alone ». Graziano Delrio thanks everyone “and in particular the president of Lombardia Fontana, the mayor of Bergamo Gori”. Maria Elena Boschi: “A commission of inquiry will be needed to ascertain responsibilities; why Bergamo has not been declared a red zone? We apologize to doctors and nurses left without a mask ». Giorgia Meloni: “People locked up in the house do not know if they will have the money to support their children, and Germany has already replied: attack yourself! Europe comes to rummage in our rubble to steal our silverware! We open the door of this Palace, we do our part, we give answers ». Surreal atmosphere, someone proposes to move Parliament to EUR, but it would mean opening a building site for hundreds of people: impossible. The other topic of the transatlantic conversations is the government of national unity, obviously the name of Draghi turns; but they are things that pass on the heads of parliamentarians, it is no longer here that they decide.
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Tomorrow morning we start again in the Senate, where Conte will find Salvini and Renzi, the two Matthew both hostile. On March 31, the Chamber of Deputies returned to vote on the tax wedge, something that was a century old before the crisis: it will be called, the deputies will parade one by one, careful not to touch each other, not to talk to each other, not to not even look at each other.
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March 25, 2020 (change March 25, 2020 | 9.10pm)
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