The Huffington Post Italia had an extraordinary scoop last night when it got ahold of a 39-page draft document setting out a coalition agreement between Lega and Five Star. It is unbelievably extreme - right out of the 1930s. The copy of the contract is dated 14 May at 9.30am. It precedes Monday’s discussions between the party leaders and President Sergio Mattarella, and the parties have already said that it is out of date. It may be, but the document gives a good reflection of the sheer radicalness of two parties.
The parallel governance is probably the single most important, and hitherto unknown, proposal. We translate its name as a Reconciliation Committee, and its role is to adjudicate when there is a conflict between the two parties inside the government. Since such a committee is not foreseen in the Italian constitution, it would only have an informal role. But, as Huffington Post Italia rightly points out, the creation of such a committee would undoubtedly give rise to inter-institutional conflict, and possibly even to a constitutional crisis. The committee would take formal decisions in areas such as international crises, natural disasters, law and order, and public health. It would comes together whenever any of the parties requested it. Its members would be the prime minister, the presidents of Five Star and Lega, the political leaders of the chamber of deputies and the Senate, and any ministers relevant to a particular decision.
The draft agreement also contains a eurozone exit clause, on page 35. The two parties commit to introducing (our translation)"specific technical procedures of an economic and legal nature” to allow the country to leave the euro, or to obtain an opt-out if there is a popular majority. The article points out that this clause questions the principle of the euro's irreversibility. We heard a comment from the two parties yesterday that this clause is no longer in the current draft.
On page 38, almost at the end, there is a reference to the cancellation of the stock of Italian sovereign debt held by the ECB.
And, finally, the draft agreement favours an opening to Russia, a relationship that should not be characterised by threats but by partnership in economic and trade relations.
There can be no doubt that Five Star and Lega are following a radical agenda even if this draft agreement were to be rendered a little flatter in subsequent revisions. Whoever leaked this succeeded to give us an insight into the state of mind of the two parties. What worries us even more than the tough language on the eurozone, and the ludicrous request for debt cancellation, is the attempt to undermine the Italian constitution through parallel structures. This is the method by which fascists and communists in the 20th century managed to usurp democracies from within. Coalition committees to adjudicate conflicts about legislation are a normal thing, but a committee with formal executive powers is a completely different animal.
