Berlusconi’s Power Games

Update

The removal of Eluana’s feeding tube actually occurred 4 days ago.  We have just heard at around 8:30pm Italian time today 9 February 2009 that Eluana Englaro has passed away.

A lot of TV time is being dedicated to the somewhat sad case of one Eluana Englaro, an Italian who was badly injured in a car accident back in 1992, and who has remained in a vegetative comatose state ever since.

Eluana’s father has been battling the Italian system in an attempt to have Eluana’s feeding tubes removed so that she can be left to pass quietly away.

Such cases are always sad and difficult, and in Italy, the Roman Catholic church, which views the removal of Eluana’s feeding tubes as a form of murder, has been making its opinion felt.  Eluana’s poor father has maintained that his daughter wanted to be left to die in peace, and, after a considerable battle has had his daughter moved to a private clinic, which, outside of Italian law to an extent, would have removed Eluana’s feeding tubes and thus brought her existence, such as it is, to an end.

The case though has caught the attention of Italy’s prime power monger Silvio Berlusconi who appears to be using it as something of an excuse to tighten his already virtually throttling reins on power in Italy.  The Eluana case is being used to generate a constitutional crisis in Italy.

The Italian constitution is Flawed

The sad case of Eluana has reached the highest courts in Italy.  Despite the courts having finally granted permission for Eluana to be allowed to pass away in peace, the Italian government issued a recent decree stating that Eluana must not be left to die.  Only Italy’s President Napolitano exercised his right to veto the new law and has refused to sign it. As a result, Berlusconi is kicking up one almighty fuss and has been stating that President Napolitano’s veto is unjust interference and should not be allowed to happen.  The noises Berlusconi and Co are making indicate that the Italian constitution is flawed and thus should be changed.

A few Italians I know seem to think that what Berlusconi is up to is some covert attempt to seize power in Italy, and the Italian word for ‘coup’ has come up in recent conversations.  A coup was attempted before in Italy, back 1976, when the Italian right thought about seizing power in an attempt to stop the commies from grabbing control of disorderly Italy.

The fact that the Italian government has placed troops on Italy’s streets may be linked to some kind of action, even if the official line is that the troops are there to cut down crime.  Italians are wary of such moves and many seem to believe that anything is possible in Machiavellian Italy.

Just what will happen is any one’s guess, but with Italy being such an odd, almost medieval country, something interesting may well occur.

Italy’s Main Problem is Order

As I’ve mentioned before, Italy’s main problem seems to be that of order, and, at the end of the day, not much else.  Others think the same, only their idea of order leans towards the imposition of organisation upon the people via some form of potentially oppressive political regime.

In the Ring

In the left corner, but suffering from a recent pummelling in the elections, are the communists who are eager to impose communist rule on Italy.  Then we have standing proud in the right corner of the Italian political boxing ring, the right.  These good old boys, and this includes Berlusconi, would love to see a return to the sort of order brought by one Benito Mussolini.  In other words, they’d love to see fascism resurrected.

In some respects this lusting for some form of dictatorial order is understandable in disunited Italy, and many do believe that it is the only way to turn Italy into a united and organised society.  They are wrong, of course, in that the you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours tendency in Italy will not go away even if some form of dictatorship does emerge.  Italy is very much driven by the interests, and, more to the point, the capacity of devious schemes to swell bank accounts.

Fascists will have lots of little friends, and communists would be little different.  If anything does actually happen, then the biggest loser will be many of the more normal Italians who would dearly love to be appreciated for what they are, not for who they know.

Eluana Englaro’s Silent Suffering – Excuse

Eluana Englaro’s silent suffering could well be used as an excuse, and looks as if this is the case, by the Italian right wing to tip the balance of power in their favour.  However, Italy does not need all this moving and shaking.  What it needs is down to earth intelligent people who can build upon Italy’s strengths and work towards reducing its weaknesses.  None of the current bunch of politicians, with the possible exception of Di Pietro, are capable of this.  All they want to do is bask in the rays of power and swell their already inflated bank accounts, even if even they do not really know what to do with all the money they have accumulated.

Yes, the Eluana case is complex, but in the overall scheme of things, it’s not really that significant, and as a friend pointed out, all the money being spent on this case in terms of the time devoted to it by well paid politicians could be used to cure many thousands of sick children.

Two conclusions can be draw from the actions of Italy’s politicians at the moment: 1) they don’t really care a jot about Italy or its population, 2) they don’t want to run Italy democratically.

Belusconi’s somewhat inane observation that ‘Eluana could have babies’, would appear to support the conclusions drawn above, as this is the kind of comment made by someone who can’t really think of anything else to say.  This indicates that all the fuss is little more than subterfuge used to cover up a hidden agenda.

Oh, and if I should ever find myself in the same position as poor Eluana, please let me die – so the resources being devoted to the remote possibility of my waking up can be devoted to other cases with a much higher probability of the patient recovering.  Save the children, not me.