At the Gates of Roma

[Nardini]

With a change of political hue in the Italian government, it seems more than possible that Rome, after 15 years of leftist governance, will follow suit and elect a right-wing mayor. This article in the Belfast Telegraph is a pretty fair view of things there for English speakers.

See what you think of it...

[Sally Donaldson]

Doesn't surprise me. I understand Italians still have a lot of respect for Mussolini. I even saw at a market in Pescara last Wednesday, Mussolini memorabilia for sale.

Here is a link to profiles of the two candidates. - ANSA.it - News in English - PROFILES OF RUTELLI AND ALEMANNO

[Nardini]

And we have a result! Not an entirely unexpected win for Bari-born Gianni Alemanno, son-in-law of Pino Rauti.

[Sally Donaldson]

Now the question is will London chose Boris or Ken in similar election on Thursday, and if Boris, will the next government then turn Conservative???

[Gala Placidia]

Well, regarding Alemanno, this last article says:

"He has also won praise, even on the centre left, for his low-key, moderate style."

So there is hope that he may do the right thing.... (No pun intended).

[Nardini]

Originally Posted by Gala Placidia

Well, regarding Alemanno, this last article says:

"He has also won praise, even on the centre left, for his low-key, moderate style."

So there is hope that he may do the right thing.... (No pun intended).

We live in hope. Perhaps everything he said in his election manifesto was as significant as the famous "Contratto con gli Italiani " that Berlusconi made on TV before his last stint as PM. If so, Alemanno's promise to (point 16 in his manifesto) "Immediately activate procedure for the expulsion of 20,000 nomads and immigrants who have broken the law in Rome." and then again (point 8) "Closure of illegal nomad camps, rigorous and effective checks on legal ones and their progressive elimination" will be a fairly dramatic start to his tenure. Certainly not a quiet start.

Of course, perhaps the current political moment will be supplanted by more practical reasons for maintaining a reasonably quiet life in Rome. It all rather depends on the power that will be exerted by the more extreme elements of the coalition government now elected. Fingers crossed, eh?

[Nardini]

Unfortunately, it is looking as though the fears of what would happen in Rome, after the election of Alemanno, are being realised. What seem to be organised gangs of extreme right-wing party members,masked for the occassion, are acting in a way rather reminiscent of the Black Shirts in the 30s. Attacking foreigners and homosexuals before vanishing just before the police arrive.

Roberto Maroni, Minister of the Interior for the Lega Nord, said "Italy is not a rascist country" before going on to add, "Episodes of this kind are sometimes inflamed by crimes committed by illegal immigrants."

Yes, of course. I should have thought of that myself. But, Bengali shopkeepers? Really?

Hmmm...

[Nardini]

At the risk of annoying some, there has been more violence in Rome between the right and left.This time it is students that are the centre of the Neo-Fascists ire. And, yet again, it is the Forza Nuova that are the right-wing perpetrators of the violence.

Perhaps now is not exactly the right time to start talking about re-naming streets in Rome after past political "heroes" - such as Giorgio Almirante. Forse- or should that now be changed to Forza!

[adriatica]

it has to be agreed that historically Rome has always been the main fascist centre and home of minority extreme right groups for quite some time... even before the last elections... lists of Zionist sympathetic lecturers at universities...burning of Israeli flags... by both extreme left and right wing groups seem to me to balance out in Rome what is a sort of competition between two extreme sides of Italian life to gain headlines...

however to suggest that the attack on the shopkeepers is something to do with politics of either side...the leader of the attack had a tattoo of Che Guevara ... so i guess would commonly be understood to be of a left leaning and also included a good friend of his... a black person... hardly making the whole gang part of an extreme Nazi right... in fact the whole thing was a personal confrontation to do with a stolen wallet and had a lot more to do with the perceived problems in these areas of that when you call the police nothing gets done...

so basically that incident seems to have been a group of fairly normal... although arrogant and violent citizens... getting to a stage of frustration with local police and taking the law into their own hands in a vigilante operation which got out of hand...

so in this case at least there is no basis for pointing the finger regarding xenophobia ... all fifteen involved have been arrested including the black guy... and all are pretty sorry that they have made the news in this way...

many Italian newspapers are saying now that its time to stop this sort of reporting of every incident in terms of right wing extremism and linking it to centre right politics when they are just the norm of everyday city life here where extremes from either side... generally involving people who enjoy fighting are labeled instead as hooligans... a far simpler and most probably more correct version of what is happening here than anything to do with political movements...

what is far more relevant to my mind is the fact that the police know that only 30 % of those they arrest will ever get to be put in prison when convicted...that the rest will be back on the street the same day... that trials take 8-10 years to arrive at a conclusion...

so for urban crime this means that the police know its close to useless to arrest or investigate... not because they cannot catch the criminals... just that they will not be dealt with... people that live in these areas also know this fact well enough... and so the frustration is against law breakers of whatever type... but more because of the system here and the most asked for thing is certainty of sentence....

[Noma]

...and all are pretty sorry that they have made the news in this way

The Bengalesi and Indians they attacked with lead pipes and bats are even sorrier.