Thursday, February 28, 2008

Italy and Israeli "Fragmented" Political Systems Similar Pros and Cons vs "Two Party " Sytems

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Menachem Gantz, a journalist based in Rome for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, believes that Italians are "frustrated" and don't expect any change from the upcoming general elections.

 

According to the Israeli journalist, there are also many similarities between Italy and Israel, first and foremost the fact that "usually the political crises match".

Gantz goes on to explain that the "Fragmented Party" system in Israel and Italy are quite similar, and represent similar problems, especially when the coalitions are evenly divided, and threats from "sliver" parties can cause "confidence" votes that threaten the Prime Minister position, or force New Elections.

 

"We have only just avoided early elections because at the end of the month of January the Winograd Commission evaluated on the outcome of the war in Lebanon and that jeopardised the government of [Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert," said Gantz referring to the report by the commission to shed light on how Israel managed the conflict in 2006.

 

Ehud Olmert's leadership was spared because the Labour leader and defence minister Ehud Barak "decided not to withdraw from the coalition," and as such "the eventuality of a vote in Israel today seems a little further away."...but looming.

Two party systems offer more stability, but less flexiblity, and wide swinging changes with the change of Presidents.

Election Focus: Italy as seen by an Israeli Correspondent

Adnkronos International Italia - Roma,Lazio,Italy

February 28, 2008

Menachem Gantz, a journalist based in Rome for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, believes that Italians are "frustrated" and don't expect any change from the upcoming general elections.

Rome, 26 Feb. (AKI) - Italians are "desperate" and "frustrated", according to Rome-based Israeli reporter, Menachem Gantz. Even after April's general election, they feel there is "no guarantee that the reality will be different and there will not be a repetition of the current scenario," he argues.

Gantz, correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that Italy lacks any sign of "change, growth - the closing of a chapter for the opening of a new one."

"Elections are a democratic celebration and it is for this reason that Italians, who may be critical of the United States, look at the American elections as a celebration," he said.

Gantz told AKI that the two main alliances or political parties "cannot pit themselves fiercely against each other" or "offend each other" or have "an election campaign with low-level accusations" and then find that after the polls that they have to work togeth er.

According to Gantz, in this electoral race, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi "has so far conducted an election campaign with a lower profile than the one in 2006", also because the candidate who really has his work cut out for him is the outgoing mayor of Rome and leader of the newly formed centre-left Democratic Party (PD), Walter Veltroni.

Gantz said that even though elections are always a fascinating event, these Italian elections are "forced", and "the Italians are not as content and enthusiastic".

As such it is difficult to explain the "details" of the Italian electoral campaign to Israel and Gantz instead uses news stories to show the relevance and impact of the polls.

Gantz said an example would be "speaking of the crisis involving [Italian national carrier] Alitalia, explaining how the election campaign touches this question, what is the position of the [anti-immigrant] Northern League party or that of the Left," without get ting caught up in the "daily developments".

Israelis are likely to pay more attention to Italian politics, once the vote is over and the results are known and "when the new government is formed," said Gantz.

"It all depends on who will be the new foreign minister," he told AKI.

"Compared to previous elections, these are in some way different in terms of Italy's ties with Israel, mainly because today Italy is the principle force to the north of Israel," said Gantz referring to the Italian contingent in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) which was deployed to southern Lebanon after the conflict in the summer of 2006 between Israeli troops and guerrillas from Shia militant group Hezbollah.

"As such, the consequences of the vote, even if their are not immediate, could be of interest to Israel," Gantz told AKI.

According to the Israeli journalist, there are also many similarities between Italy and Israel, first and foremost the fact that "usually the political crises match".

"We have only just avoided early elections because at the end of the month of January the Winograd Commission evaluated on the outcome of the war in Lebanon and that jeopardised the government of [Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert," said Gantz referring to the report by the commission to shed light on how Israel managed the conflict in 2006.

In the end, Ehud Olmert's leadership was spared because the Labour leader and defence minister Ehud Barak "decided not to withdraw from the coalition," and as such "the eventuality of a vote in Israel today seems a little further away."

According to Gantz, this is similar to the way in which the smaller centrist Udeur party in Italy pulled out of the government coalition, citing a lack of support for its leader, the former justice minister Clemente Mastella, who together with his wife was implicated in a corruption probe.

This led to the resignation of f ormer premier Romano Prodi in January, the dissolution of parliament and the calling of fresh elections on 13 and 14 April.

Gantz said that Barak's decision to remain in the ruling Israeli coalition, "was not dictated by personal reasons, but was taken in consideration of the requirements in a very delicate period of dialogue with [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] Abu Mazen which continues".

In such a context,"Barak could not be the one who would drag the country into an election campaign that in the end would do nothing but waste time," said Gantz.

The correspondent of Yedioth Ahronoth also highlighted the "particular relationship" between Israel and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

"His government represented an improvement in the ties between the two countries and Berlusconi was closer to Israel because he could have a dialogue with the Arab world and with Israel, clarifying that there is no discussion over the existen ce of Israel or the security of the state of Israel," said Gantz.

"This message has been passed on even to certain elements of Italy's centre-left," said Gantz, referring to the fact that Walter Veltroni, as the mayor of Rome, chose every year to personally travel with Roman students to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

As for the current situation in Italy, the long-running Naples rubbish crisis is the story that has struck Gantz the most. He said that it is "sad to see Italians, the same people who can unite around a television to donate money to Africa, close their eyes to refuse to see the catastrophic and humiliating situation in Naples."

The latest refuse emergency in Naples began on 21 December 2007 when the rubbish collectors stopped gathering the garbage because there was nowhere to put it. Pictures of streets overflowing with garbage, street protests, and rubbish bins set alight and blocked roads have filled the pages of the Italian and forei gn media in the past months.

Gantz said that his "dream" is to see in Italy the same manifestation of solidarity which has been seen in the last few days in Israel with regards to the residents of Sderot, the city that has been the target of daily attacks from the north of the Gaza Strip.

"Italy is a united country and must demonstrate that it is united in its difficulties and not abandon one part of its land in this way, despite the difficulty and complexity of the case," said Gantz.

"Thinking of my country and the city of Sderot, which is inside the unquestionable borders of Israeli territory, I see tens of thousands of Israelis travel to this city to shop to contribute to the city's local economy in a sign of solidarity with the residents," Gantz told AKI.

"This is an important gesture, that with my great love for Naples, I would like to see also in Italy," he said.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=1.0.1915680035

 

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