Bersani, that old guy that watches you from a park bench with his sleeves rolled up in the hope of squeezing a vote out of you, has gathered up his courage. To boot out Berlusconi from Palazzo Chigi he has decided to bring him 10 million signatures that he will gather in a month using ten thousand gazebos. It’s the “February campaign”. A half way house between the storming of the Winter Palace by Lenin and the eight million bayonets of Mussolini who said with prophetic lucidity: “Thus it is a great olive branch that I am raising up …. Watch out, this olive branch has come from a massive forest: it’s the forest of eight million bayonets that are sharp and in the hands of young people who are intrepid and strong.” From eight million bayonets to ten million signatures with the blessing of the olive is only a short step.
Bersani thundered with his lisped ‘s’: “He is thinking of talking about the magistracy and not answering the questions he should answer.” D'Alema was a bit upset. He thought allusions were maybe being made. Still digging up the story with Ms Forleo and the interview about the magistracy on ‘Canale 5’. Implacable, Bersani remarked: “I am clearly opposed to elections. But let’s not delude ourselves. If there is voting with this law and he wins, then he will do everything he can to get to the Quirinale {official residence of the President of the Italian Republic} and he will have the numbers required to do that.” The electoral law, Calderoli’s ‘legge porcata’ {filthy law}, was never discussed by the PDminusL in the two years of the Prodi government. This law is the offspring of every party present in Parliament, welcomed warmly by all of them. Bersani also got sad at the thought of the psycho-dwarf: “He’s there and will stay there as long as he’s allowed to.” Exactly. Who has allowed him to? The government would have fallen a long time ago if the PDminusL had been present in the Chamber when there was the confidence vote on the Fiscal Shield. Berlusconi wouldn’t even be in Parliament if the Opposition had brought in the law on the conflict of interests. Berlusconi would not have control of the TV stations if D'Alema hadn’t made him a made-to-measure-law in 1999 (anything but “Bottino Craxi”).
Bersani anyway has a dream. To listen to 'Topo Gigio Veltroni' tomorrow in his second speech at Lingotto, 22 January. He’s expecting “a contribution to political culture”. ‘Walterloo’ brought Berlusconi back to life, Berlusconi who in the Autumn of 2007 was reduced to giving out pasta to old folks in the outskirts of Milan and he even managed not to mention him throughout the whole of his election campaign. As a true opponent, but also ally, he shook his hand in the Lower House after his opening speech. At the thought of his new political contribution, every Italian makes an intimate gesture to bring good luck. Bersani concluded: “It’s obvious that Berlusconi takes us all for fools”. And this is being naughty. Not everyone. He doesn’t consider the top brass of the PDminusL to be fools, but business partners. They will never give up (but is it in their interests?). Neither will we.