Autonomy, the thousand red lies: here are all the (repentant) fans of autonomy

The prequel was written in 2001, the first constitutional reform approved by parliament (with a narrow majority) and then confirmed with over 60% by the referendum. It concerned the reform of Title V. It was practically the last act of the second Amato government, with Franco Bassanini minister of public function, Antonio Maccanico in charge of reforms, Sergio Mattarella in charge of defence. And a slew of PDS ministers: Piero Fassino, Livia Turco, Pierluigi Bersani, among others. The sequel, however, was approved last Tuesday in the Chamber with the very strong opposition of the Democratic Party and is called differentiated autonomy, an obvious continuation of that reform. In practice, the center-left is today criticizing the outcome of a project for which it had laid the foundations. It was Massimo D’Alema, leader of the Democrats of the Left, who introduced the principles of federalism into Title V of the second part of the Constitution, which regulates the functioning of local authorities. First as president of the Bicameral Commission, established in 1997 to formulate constitutional reforms shared by the centre-right and centre-left, and then above all as Prime Minister, D’Alema promoted the reform of that part of the Constitution together with the Minister for Institutional Reforms Giuliano Amato. The bill was presented by the government to the Chamber on 18 March 1999, and then followed the long path foreseen for constitutional reforms. It was approved and defined by the Chamber on 8 March 2001.

The reform of the Meloni government, twenty-four years later, starts again from the 23 matters indicated in the new formulation of Title V, establishing the ways and procedures through which the regions can ask the government for greater autonomy in managing them. Practically a cult theme for the left until a few months ago. This, for example, was what the governor of Tuscany Eugenio Giani thought last year. «It is a value of the left not to centralize powers in the state, I believe that differentiated autonomy is a concept which, if well set up, enhances the activity of the regions and favors a greater response capacity of the territories», he said in a chat with il Foglio the president of the Tuscan council. With an invitation, which evidently was not respected: «I ask the Democratic Party to maintain a secular attitude, without ideologizing the debate on differentiated autonomy as if it were a clash between North and South». And to say that Eugenio Giani had an illustrious predecessor in 2023: Stefano Bonaccini. In 2017, the President of the Democratic Party, MEP for a few days, joined the presidents of Veneto and Lombardy in the request to grant the region important competences on the most diverse subjects – 15, in the Emilian case – and to even sign a pre-agreement with the government of Paolo Gentiloni. At the time, Bonaccini had a vice president who was almost unknown to the national news, a certain Elly Schlein, who had nothing to say about her President’s decision.

The two left-wing governors, however, are not alone, because at a certain point the Conte government, that of the very strong point of reference for the progressives, with a true minister like Francesco Boccia, promoted a law very similar to that of Calderoli. “Both I and the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, believe that differentiated autonomy, pursuant to Article 116 of the Constitution, must be achieved”, the words of the leader of the Democratic group in the Senate, who today is naturally among the most ardent opponents . Among yesterday’s fans of differentiated autonomy, Pierluigi Bersani (since the days of the D’Alema government) and Enrico Letta could not be missing, they too have now suddenly changed their minds. Exactly like Bonaccini, Giani, and that vice-president of Emilia Romagna at the time. Elly Schlein, who suddenly discovered the evil of differentiated autonomy.