Financial Times
Bonino returns to political roots
By James Blitz
Published: May 19 2000 17:36GMT | Last Updated: May 19 2000 18:28GMT
When
they leave Brussels, most European commissioners tend to go to plush executive
jobs in business, consultancy or government. But Emma Bonino, the fiery Italian
who once ran the European Union's fisheries and humanitarian affairs policies,
went back to where she first started in politics: the street.
Over the past few days, Ms Bonino, a fragile-looking figure
who dons large round spectacles under blonde bobbed hair, has campaigned
furiously for "Yes" votes ahead of a series of referendums to be put
to the Italian public tomorrow.
Two weeks ago, she set up camp in the cobbled square outside
the prime minister's office in the centre of Rome and staged a 24-hour sit-in
for seven days. Her aim - partly achieved - was to get parliament to remove the
names of dead people from the electoral register. Under Italian law, tomorrow's
referendums will only be valid if more than 50 per cent of eligible voters turn
up at the polling booths.
The proposals put forward by Ms Bonino and her tiny Radical
party are a free-market liberal's wish list. They include scrapping the last
bits of proportional representation from the electoral system; ending a system
where union dues are automatically cut from wage packets; and abandoning a law
under which a court can reinstate a dismissed worker in his job even if the
company cannot afford it. "Proposals, all of them, that are essential if
this country with its 35 parties and its low economic growth rate is to start
looking normal," says the 50-year-old Ms Bonino in her tiny Rome office.
"The sit-in was far more tiring than I thought, not least
because it often rained," she says. "I forgot how exposed you suddenly
become when you do a thing like that. You engage in endless conversations with
the sort of people you might expect to meet on the streets in the middle of the
night."
Ms Bonino admits there were a few hairy moments, even for
someone who was once arrested by Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan. At one
stage, she was involved in angry scuffles when a rival group tried to break up
the sit-in. But there were acts of kindness from passers-by too. "I always
made sure to take a shower each night in the Italian parliament building next
door," she says. "Gandhi said the first rule of public protest is to
look after yourself as much as you can."
Italians' views on Ms Bonino are mixed these days. She and her
fellow Radicals are among the few groups promoting liberal, free-market policies
in a country otherwise dominated by its Catholic and Communist political
traditions. Professor Rudi Dornbush, the leading MIT economist, recently wrote
an article (dubbed "Three Cheers for Emma Bonino") noting the
"wonderful example" that will be set by tomorrow's referendums in a
continent which urgently needs economic reform.
Others downplay her effectiveness. As a young woman, Ms Bonino
launched numerous sit-ins and protests which eventually led to Italy scrapping
its abortion ban. But the Radicals have campaigned for so many referendums since
that the instrument has been devalued. Her future in Italian politics is also
uncertain. After a surprise success in last year's European elections, the
Radicals flopped in last month's regional poll, with a meagre 2.7 per cent of
the vote.
When the polls close tomorrow night, Ms Bonino will discover
whether Italians are prepared to recognise her perseverance. Even if the
referendums are passed, parliament would have to go through the elaborate
process of legislating for some of the reforms.
But for now, the "humility" of an ex-European
commissioner prepared to camp out on the streets of Rome for her beliefs
impresses some of Italy's opinion-formers. "After all the attention that
you get as a commissioner in Brussels," wrote one recently, "it takes
a certain courage to be true to yourself and fight your cause on the
pavement."
