Written by: Phelim USHER-PURVES
Monday
saw the news of the death of one of the giants of Italian politics. In Italy's
fractious political scene, Giulio Andreotti represented an unwanted continuity,
holding the position of Prime Minister no fewer than seven times, and that of
Minister on 23 occasions. He was a leading light in Democrazia Cristiana (DC),
the centrist Christian Democratic party, which held power in various coalition
formations from the end of the war until the collapse of the party system due
to systemic corruption in the early 1990s known as Tangentopoli (loosely
translated as 'Kickback City' or 'Bribesville'). He was then created a senator
for life and spent much of the rest of his life fighting allegations of
corruption and collusion with the Mafia throughout his terms of office.
Hidden
behind these dazzling facts and figures is the nature of the man; by all
accounts an enigma. A superb tactician and political thinker who couldn't see
that the era of the DC was at an end; a devout Catholic and friend of several
popes with no moral scruples about paying the costs of retaining power; a great
lover of beauty, art and culture but with no sense of intimacy. He is known for
his many witticisms, and famously locked horns with Lady Thatcher over the
thorny issue of European economic and monetary union. Throughout his terms of
office, he wished to present himself as a humble worker trying to do his best
for the nation, and perhaps leading a life he would not otherwise have chosen:
"I know I'm of average height, but looking around, I don't see any
giants".
Even
in Italy, a country in which nicknames are often attributed to politicians,
Andreotti stood out: the Black Pope, the Hunchback, Beelzebub, the Divine
Giulio. Many of these were used by critics and supporters alike, in reference
to his cunning, his intelligence and his ruthlessness, and perhaps this
uncertainty lies at the heart of the enigma. To some, he was the hero of the
Cold War, a man who kept the powerful Italian Communist Party out of power, and
put Italy on the road to economic success. To others he was a symptom of the
pervasive corruption of the era before the 1990s, keeping himself and his
political allies in power with scant regard for the wishes of the electorate.
And to still others, he was simply a relic of the 'old order', promoting
Catholic views and warning about the dangers of consumption to a populace that
was no longer really listening.
What
Andreotti's passing really marks is an opportunity for Italian politics to
forget the post-war dominance of the centre, the limp electoral reforms and fragmentation
of the political system resulting from . It allows Italy to break with the past
and truly achieve a Second Republic. It may be ironic that the death of one of
the architects of a false political stability in may give Italy a real chance
for another form of democratic stability, but it is an irony that the 'Divine
Giulio' would have appreciated.
