Giffoni is a hymn to national unity; every year a magic is renewed here. It is an excellence of southern Italy capable of speaking to the world, thanks to a brilliant and pioneering idea. This is what Democratic Party deputy Piero De Luca said this morning when he met with the young people of Giffoni Impact at the Sala Blu of the Multimedia Valley.
The focus of the meeting was the issue of differentiated autonomy. “It is a wrong proposal – explains De Luca – which arises to address a real issue, the disparity between areas of the country in terms of performance, services and opportunities“.
The tool to try to reduce these disparities existed, represented by the PNRR. Because, De Luca explains, the gap between parts of the country is dramatic in terms of health care emigration but also regarding schools and university education.
“The differentiated autonomy reform – says Piero De Luca – risks making these disparities even greater”.
The key is in the so-called LEPs: “The reform – explains the Democratic deputy – allows each individual region to make agreements with the national government, retaining regional taxes within their own territories, thus subtracting them from the general pool. In practical terms, this means it will be difficult to live in the South. That’s why this is a break-Italy reform. We stand for a united Italy because the unity of the country is the only guarantee for a competitive Italy. This reform is also harmful to the North. On the contrary, Italy is strong only if united, as Giffoni demonstrates, because Giffoni unites differences. No one can and should be left behind and that is why we work”.
De Luca spoke at Giffoni the day after the meeting with Elly Schlein and Giuseppe Conte, the leaders of the two main opposition forces to the Meloni government: “As opposition forces – explains De Luca – we have a duty to strongly denounce the disasters this government is proceeding with. We do so with a constructive spirit, with serious proposals, as is the style of the Democratic Party. The truth is that this government is dramatically divided within itself. This is demonstrated by the fact that their representation in the European Parliament is divided among three different political groups with totally distinct positions. This has led to the total irrelevance of Italy at the European level”.
And Piero De Luca lists the political battles for which a common platform of the opposition forces is necessary: from the minimum wage to investments in health care, “there has never been another government that has contracted health care spending so much” – he says – to inclusion in schools or support for ecological and climate transition “to limit the damage of the deniers who are also present in this field”, he adds.
“This government is based on a power pact that involves the premiership, differentiated autonomy and justice reform that interest the three majority forces”.
The duty of the opposition forces? Work to build a credible alternative. Through a virtuous path: “This – he concludes – is our political and civil duty”.
