Sicilian Culture: The News: Judge the Devolution Plan On Its Merits, Not Its Champion

Sicilian Culture

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Judge the Devolution Plan On Its Merits, Not Its Champion
By Paul Virgo, Freelance Writer, Rome
Umberto Bossi may be a crude, xenophobic hothead.
He delights in being unpleasant and is one of Italy's most unpopular people. For years he has criticized southern Italy as corrupt, mismanaged and Mafia-ridden.
Ironically, though, he might also turn out to be the best thing to happen to the Mezzogiorno since Diego Armando Maradona played for Napoli.
Mr. Bossi, head of the formerly separatist Northern League and now minister for reforms, will submit his program for devolution to the cabinet on Monday (July 16).
The proposal will seek to introduce a federal system similar to the one adopted by Spain, where regional governments decide most matters.
Mr. Bossi's plan wants this devolved system for his own selfish reasons -- he believes it would liberate his dynamic and prosperous native North from the parasitic South.
The beauty of his plans, though, is that they may be just the medicine the Mezzogiorno needs to get out of the mess it's in.
The stubborn problem of southern underdevelopment is the stain that has spoiled Italy's post-war economic miracle. Rome's policy for the last 50 years has been to throw money at the problem.
It has been a costly failure. Funds diverted to the South fattened the wallets of corrupt officials and organized crime bosses but very little else. In terms of infrastructure and long-term job creation there is little to show for years of grants and high-profile projects.
Worse than the waste of time and money though is the culture of dependency this approach has encouraged. Many southern Italians have learned to expect the state to solve their problems for them.
This obviously cannot go on forever.
Southerners have to learn to fend for themselves before the money they have depended on for so long dries up. In a few years' time the expansion of the European Union will mean most of the grants from Brussels to the Mezzogiorno will be diverted to Eastern Europe.
Devolution could be the South's last hope.
Mr. Bossi's program doesn't mean abandoning Italy's poorest regions. It means freeing them up to use the talent and natural resources already present. People from the South are by no means helpless, But have been prevented from achieving their potential by this culture of dependency. Indeed, they are arguably more creative and resourceful than their Northern compatriots and thrive when they go abroad or move to other parts of the country.
Devolution might give them the chance to exercise those skills without leaving their hometowns. It would be a message to southerners that their destiny is in their own hands, while also giving them the means to improve the situation by themselves. Antonio Bossolino, the former mayor of Naples, and now the president of Campania, has shown that things can be improved by local action.
Devolution would enable the South to finally show us what it's made of.
What's more, Mr. Bossi's devolution program would have the added bonus of strengthening democracy. For historical reasons, Italians feel more attached to their city or region than they are to their relatively young state.
Ask a Roman what he identifies more with, Rome or Italy, and he would probably say Rome. People from Milan, Florence and Naples would give you a similar answer.
Therefore, a devolved system would more closely reflect Italian people's loyalties and would likely bring them closer to their political institutions.
Many people dislike Mr. Bossi, and given his sporadically repulsive record on immigrants, it is easy to understand why.
But his devolution program should be judged on its merits regardless of one's feelings for its advocate.

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