Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Voting Against Business-as-Usual

So the results of the Italian election were indecisive, particularly in the Chamber of Deputies, which is probably more representative of vox populi than the Senate. Thus, Gavin Hewitt's analysis piece for BBC News begins:
The horse-trading will now begin.
While this may be true, it misses the most important point: If the Italian people had a hard time deciding how they would vote for, it was clear what they were voting against. They were voting against a business-as-usual mentality that has rendered the political system ineffective, whether on the right or the left, whether among the seasoned politicians or the technocrats. Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement won public support for, among other reasons, his personal rejection of coalition building as a way to get Italian governance out of its current mess. All the business-as-usual coalition-building can lead to in another failed government and another election very soon, so soon that many of those who wished they have voted for the Five Star Movement in the last one will get a second chance.

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