The news Sunday night that the coronavirus had taken the lives of 328 Italians in the past 24 hours has brought fresh condemnation of the center-left government in Rome.
Coming on the heels of the loss of more than 1,000 Italian lives due to the virus, it is expected that Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government will fall sooner rather than later and elections will be held.
The dilemma, European experts agree, is whether there can or should be elections in a country which has been hit hardest by the virus. Should Italy endure large crowds at polling places, the argument goes, and risk even greater deaths from coronavirus?
Meanwhile, blame for Conte and his political team grows.
“There were very serious responsibilities,” said Mario Gualco, president of the National Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium Enterprises, “In the first place, they underestimated the level of danger of the situation, as if the Wuhan events had never been there, followed next by chasing the events. Then, add gross errors in the communication of the measures.”
Gualco, whose organization represents 621,000 associates employing over 1.2 million people, noted “that in just 19 days, there were seven decrees [from Conte] on the Coronavirus -- too many. The government created confusion and a sense of uncertainty.”
Gualco believes that the image of the Conte government is “that they do not know what decision to make and do not have the strength to make strong and necessary decisions.
“In fact, they often expect the European and [German] Chancellor [Angela] Merkel to approve what the Italian government wants to do. To this, add the responsibility of the media, who exaggerated their reporting with alarmist headlines causing only confusion, fear, and uncertainty.”
He also pointed out that “there is a feeling of abandonment by the EU. Our government asked other governments [in the EU] for aid in obtaining masks and respiratory systems--no answer. In fact, a few days ago, Austria, Slovenia, and Malta closed their borders with Italy in defiance of the Schengen Treaty permitting free movement of people in the EU. Two days ago there were riots in 27 prisons with damages reaching 35 million euros.”
“It appears,” Gualco concluded, “the government does not have the ability to handle these events.”
These circumstances aside, the virus would seem to dictate that the Conte government remain in power and elections be held down the road.
The mandate of Italian President Sergio Matterella expires in February of 2022. Under Italian election law, parliamentary elections cannot be held six months before this date. So Italy is now looking at elections in August of 2021, following a still-unscheduled referendum to reduce the number of Members of Parliament from 900 to 600.
For now, the present system and government seem likely to remain in place in Rome.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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