Speaking at a Diem 25 Belfast meeting on Saturday afternoon, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis exclusively told SocialNews of a new Italian political movement. Thanks to Kathryn Johnston.
“In Italy the political party scene is very sad. But at the level of civic, at the level of local government, there are some very interesting and very progressive movements. Last September along with Lorenzo Marsili, I travelled all the way from Milan, Turin, Ferrara, Bologna, Naples right down to Sicily, Palermo. We made very strong connections. The Italian general elections take place in March. This is going to be a very sad election, the electorate is divided, primarily in two parts – those who are not going to vote and who are completely sick and tired of a political process that is sterile – and those who are going to vote but are divided into three main groups: The Five Star Movement, the right wing of Berlusconi and Lega, and the Democratic Party and its allies. There will be division in Parliament which will not produce a government. Again we are going to have another Presidential government, a government that will be appointed by the President, supported by – or at least not opposed by – a blancmange, some kind of superficial majority in Parliament. In other words, a continuation. And this is why Diem 25 is going to intervene after the election, not before it. That is when we are going to announce a new political formation led by the Mayor of Napoli, Luigi de Magistris. We will announce it very soon after the election, maybe within March, let’s say ten days after the election. The May 2019 European election which gives us the opportunity to change the atmosphere, the climate – in Italy, along with the rest of Europe.”
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Earlier Varoufakis had spoken of the upsurge in interest in Diem 25 all over Europe. “Almost two years ago, we got together under DiEM25’s broad umbrella to challenge old-style politics, to shatter TINA – the Establishment’s ‘There is No Alternative’ doctrine – at the pan-European level, to turn Europe’s democratisation into a radical, realistic, uniting project. Now the Diem 25 train is leaving the station. It is travelling very slowly, but all the doors are open. And the closer we get to our destination – the European elections in 2019 – the faster the train will accelerate.”
