Sleeping with the Enemy?

Italy’s two main political parties are often shortened by the media to the PD and the PDL. At times it is difficult to understand which political party is being referred to. Recently, things have become much more confusing.

At the best of times Italian politics is a confused muddled affair. Indeed, things are becoming so darned confused that the supposedly right wing likes of Umberto Bossi, the head of Italy’s radical Northern League party, plus party stalwart, and Italian minster for reform, Roberto Calderoli, participated in a rally organised in Florence by Bossi’s supposed political opponents – the PD. Doesn’t Mr Bossi lean towards Silvio Berlusconi’s bunch? Well, he still does, although after this news, one has no idea for how much longer. Or is something more sinister at work.

Maybe Bossi got his PDs and PDLs mixed up and did not realise that he’d turned up at the wrong political rally until it was far too late.

Roberto Calderoli, on the other hand, who does not hide his dislike of the Muslim community, appears to be too cold, hard, and ruthless to have made such a mistake. He would not have turned up at an event such as this if there weren’t something in it for him, one suspects.

Bossi and Calderoli though, were not the only ones to have ended up in the wrong place at the right time. One Giulio Tremonti, Berlusconi’s Economy minster none the less, was also to be found conniving with the opposition at the PD rally in flamingly hot Florence.

Is this possible? Have three big name Italian politicians become so addled by the Italian summer heat as to have forgotten where their political allegiances lie?

The official reason why Bossi and Co turned up at the opposition rally is that they want the support of the PD in their efforts to push through Fiscal Federalism, which would mean clearly defining where public money was coming from, and where it was going. The overall idea being to ‘encourage’ Italy’s rebellious south to become more self-supporting.

Now, there does not appear to be a connection, this soldiers on the streets thing, even if, admittedly, there are not too many of them. One theory could be that the purpose of this so-called preservation of law and order exercise, is to allow Italy’s people to become used to a gradual build up in the presence of troops on the streets. And why would this be?

One wonders whether the number of troops will increase slowly, steadily, and virtually unnoticeably, as Italy veers towards a form of martial law. Are they, the politcos, expecting trouble when the federalism proposals become law? Or is this blogger just being paranoid?

Another theory may also be postulated, this being that knowing they are so unpopular, Italy’s political class genuinely fear a popular uprising against them. Hence the imposition of the military on the streets?

Out of curiosity, does anyone know the political leanings of Italy’s generals?

Whatever, to see this sleeping with the enemy situation is certainly strange, if not a little unnerving. One wonders whether some of Italy’s historians have been noticing some parallels between the situation today, and the run up to Mussolini’s ascension to power.

Curious, very curious, almost self-destructive behaviour, which Italy does not need.