By Nicola De Felice
I use military jargon to make it clear that we are in a battle. It is a struggle that the centre-right is waging not to take part in it, but to win it, to “stabilise and rebuild” Rome, through three slogans that, in this time of extreme decay and material and idealistic neglect of our beautiful Italian capital, the spiritual centre of the West, the cradle of Latin and European civilization, essential are: security, legality and stability.
Security is essential for the stability of a city in any geographical area. This simple principle applies all the more to Rome, whose balance is based on the assumption that each of its elements, whether municipal or otherwise, is capable of independently providing the part of security for which it is responsible.
However, the heterogeneity of the activities and elements that play a role in Rome have made the environment extremely dynamic and complex, so I have proposed a “military” approach, i.e. highlighted the need for stabilisation – figuratively, of course – so that Rome, described by many as fragile and unstable, can recover.
With the democratic vote, we can expect that the security conditions will be restored and maintained, so that the basis will be created for the return to at least normal conditions that favor the reconstruction of Rome, that is, the restoration of sustainable development of the entire Community.
With the vote, we can commit ourselves to the realization of essential infrastructures such as waste incineration plants, the efficient and effective restoration of municipal administrative structures, municipalized enterprises, the management of the entire workforce and all those structures that are essential for the technical and economic support of urban facilities and the population. Rome today is comparable to a “failed state” because it has only remnants of institutional structures so weak that they allow neither a stable and effective management of the urban area nor a monopoly for the application of public order, as recent events have shown.
In other words, with the election, we can ask those who will govern us for these general conditions of stability – in terms of our perception as citizens and measured against ourselves as the ultimate judge of any intervention, of any reform. With the vote, we demand to guarantee the possibility of living our daily lives without fear of systematic or massive acts of violence, with public order guaranteed by legitimate authorities. With our vote, we want a legality that guarantees all citizens access to a fair and reliable legal system that guarantees civil rights, that takes into account the entire population – regardless of gender, ethnicity or religion – but that also provides for the individual responsibility of all before the law. With our vote, we call for the management of municipal resources for the common good and the provision of basic services by the municipality, the creation of a sustainable economic system that guarantees citizens equal opportunities for their livelihood, in a production system that complies with legal norms, and in a general framework of macroeconomic stability. By going to the polls, we demand the guarantee of social well-being for every citizen, the satisfaction of his basic needs, peaceful cohesion in a community where everyone has the same opportunities to improve their lives.
If we vote for the centre-right party, we are avoiding the previous government’s mistake of allocing state funding for other cities instead of the capital. With our vote, we decide on the future of our children and grandchildren in Rome.