Amara Lakhous is an Algerian author and anthropologist. He lives in Rome and is the author of the novel entitled “A clash of civilisations over a lift in Piazza Vittorio” (Editore E/O, winner of the 2006 Flaiano Award).
Every time elections approach I am filled with feelings of envy and frustration. Is this normal? I am perhaps behaving like a child, left-out from his school-friend’s birthday party, or a soccer player sent to the bench by the coach because he is unworthy of playing in the decisive match. Oh dear! I do not come from a country that is a member of the European Union, and although I pay tax here I cannot even vote in local elections! So I “took part” in these recent elections not sitting on the bench, but watching from the ‘stands’. As a “spectator” I watched both halves in which there was an overwhelming victory and a crushing defeat.
First half
The election campaign was a hard fought one. Entertainment was guaranteed. The candidates chose to play an attacking game so as to win, lower taxation, saving Alitalia, expelling illegal immigrants, etc. In politics highly defensive play is always counterproductive, because one must give the impression that one is imposing one’s own style and never look as if one is experiencing any problems. My situation, as one “excluded”, allowed me to experience this match in a detached manner, a neutral one I might say. This was a positive element in expressing a realistic forecast regarding the final result. It would have been imprudent however to commit, as the usual pollsters do. The day before the polls opened, I had dinner with some friends. We spoke mainly about the elections. The tone used was similar to Hamlet’s; to vote or not to vote? A useful vote or a pointless one? Is voting a duty or a right? In favour of or against Beppe Grillo? Etc. Someone who looked like a priest, said one should read and reread the book by Rizzo and Stella entitled “The Caste ”. Someone else quoted Indro Montanelli: “Our politicians are asking for an act of trust. Trust is not enough, faith is needed”. A very undecided friend even envied me, saying: “Lucky you! You can’t vote!”. The evening ended with some good news; everyone said they would go and vote in spite of their doubts. At least the risk of absenteeism had been avoided.
Second half
It was not a draw, hence the Great Coalition in Italian style will have to wait. The winner instead was captain Berlusconi, together with his team-mates Bossi and Fini. The day after the elections, the daily paper Il Manifesto published photographs of all the radical left-wing leaders, Bertinotti, Diliberto, Giordano, Salvi and Pecoraro Scanio with a very significant caption: Extraparliamentary left-wing politicians! In other words, communists, socialists and members of the Green Party had been expelled from the future parliament. The Northern League got more than 8% of all votes. This party is now the third most represented after the PdL and the PD in both the lower and the upper house. Leaders of the Northern League did not wait long before they started to flex their muscles as far as the government’s ministerial appointments were concerned. In the North the Northern league triumphed basically because the party promised to achieve fiscal federalism and a suspension of immigration. This first promise will be a hard one to keep, at least in the near future. They may instead be free to do as they please as far as immigration is concerned. It appears that the “new” Prime Minister Berlusconi has taken Bossi’s requests or “threats” very seriously, appointing Roberto Maroni as Minister of the Interior.
The “Bossi-Fini” bill on immigration, promulgated in 2001 (and that the Prodi government was unable to change, or perhaps did not wish to) is a dramatic one. Effectively immigrants have become vulnerable, but above all open to blackmail applied by employers and landlords. It is an unfair law, because linking as it does, residency papers to a labour contract, it effectively denies the immigrant worker the right to be unemployed in an increasingly flexible world. And the nightmare of suddenly once again becoming an illegal immigrant (the absolute majority of immigrants with their papers in order are former illegal ones now in compliance with the law) is just around the corner. Furthermore, if one adds to the balance of power the fact that they cannot vote, there is no protection for immigrants outside their own communities. It is thus that ghettos appear and flourish. As a spectator watching from the stands, I still hope that the election match is not over. I place my trust in a comeback, overturning the situation. If this does not happen there will be very tough times ahead for my fellow non-EU immigrants!
Translation by Francesca Simmons