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ROME — Last week, Italian politicians became so angry that they gave up on debating with each other and opted for a fist-fight instead.
The cause of the brawl in parliament, which left one man in hospital, might seem to outsiders like a dry adjustment to the constitution: devolving more powers to local authorities in parts of the country that run their affairs efficiently.
But the reform has exposed a deep wound in Italy’s national psyche, dividing the prosperous North, which will benefit from the changes, from the historically deprived South. Dating back to the country’s unification in 1861, when the Northern Piedmontese annexed the Southern Bourbon kingdom, it is a split that has never truly healed.
Now Southerners have had enough.
Giuseppe Conte, a former prime minister and leader of the opposition 5Star Movement, condemned Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s reforms. “With this heinous project, Meloni and the right want to tear Italy to pieces,” Conte, who is from Southern Italy himself, told POLITICO. “The price will be paid by the people, they are abandoning the south and condemning the most depressed areas to cuts on hospitals and services and rights which are already third class.”
Protests have been held in cities across the region, against a law that critics say will deepen existing inequality. In the Southern region of Calabria youth unemployment is around 30 percent, and GDP per capita is similar to that in Romania.
It’s not a new story. Endemic poverty has led to mass emigration from Southern regions. Years of prejudice, including the denigration of Southern languages, has further fueled resentment and a sense of abandonment in the South.
Unwashed cholera sufferers
In the wealthy, industrialized North, meanwhile, bashing the supposedly lazy, corrupt and mafia-infested Southerners has long been a vote-winner. Some secessionist politicians have even invoked the explosion of the Etna and Vesuvius volcanoes with banners and social media posts such as ‘Etna is Great’ and ‘Come on Vesuvius.’ Northern football fans taunt rival supporters of teams from the South as unwashed, cholera-sufferers.
Legislation introduced by Meloni’s government would hand wide-ranging powers and resources to “virtuous and efficient” Northern regions. It is expected to be put to a final vote in the next few days.
Supporters of the law, which has been driven by the pro-North League party, say it will make spending more efficient and point out that currently Lombardy alone pays about €50 billion a year more in tax than it receives.
Sandro Ruotolo, a center-left MP from Naples, said in a statement the plan was “a secession of the rich.”
Under the proposed legislation, each region can ask for control over up to 23 areas such as education, cultural heritage and international trade, while holding back most of the taxes normally sent to Rome. Three Northern regions Veneto, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna have already requested the new powers.
League MP Alberto Stefani, claimed it would improve relations between local and national government and ensure the efficient use of resources allocated to Italy in the EU’s post-pandemic economic recovery fund. Massimo Bitonci, undersecretary of the Ministry of Enterprise, called it “a revolution” for local authorities, “abandoning the historical cost and waste of centralism.”
Opponents of the law dismiss the idea that it will improve efficiency, and argue it will result in duplication and damage competitiveness as companies will have to navigate different rules in different regions.
If Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna retain their taxes, there will be an estimated €190 billion less for the rest of the country. And competition between regions could lead to the flight of teachers or healthcare professionals to better-paying areas.
While in theory Southern regions can also request new powers, most lack the personnel and capacity to manage these extra areas of responsibility.
Formula 1 car
Angelo Forgione, a historian who has often defended Southern Italy, explained: “It’s like starting a Formula 1 car ahead of a normal car: The divide will always get bigger. The League know that they can make their car move without problems, and they know that the South do not have this possibility as they do not have the technical capacity and personnel to make the car work.”
Since the 1990s, pro-South groups have formed, demanding redress and compensation, as well as a revision of the history books. Now many in the South see the government’s plan as a continuation of the discrimination and disadvantages that date back to unification.
Naples, once the Bourbon capital, is at the forefront of opposition, with thousands attending protests. Some Southerners are also boycotting Northern products, urging consumers to buy goods only from companies with headquarters in the South to prevent the flow of taxes to the North. MPs from the South who support the government’s proposals have been branded traitors.
“This goes back to 1861,” said Forgione, the historian, “after which the South lost the ability to develop.” Greater regional autonomy would work if everyone began in the same conditions, but since World War II, no government has helped address the inequality in services and work, he said. “Let’s do the maths, make it fair and then we can do it right.”
Some have gone so far as to say that the South should seek independence. Writer Pino Aprile, founder of the pro-South Movimento 24 April has called for Southern secession. “If we are reduced to a colony and can’t be full citizens, it’s better to go it alone,” he said.
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