Salis: from an icon of anti-politics to a symbol of the fight against anti-politics

In this remarkable era of self-righteous moralists, the story of Ilaria Salis’s conviction, her defence and the quashing of her conviction is, in fact, interesting for many reasons. You are familiar with the story: Salis was ordered to pay approximately 300,000 euros in compensation to two employees who had accused her of sacking them without just cause. The case, in addition to being highly publicized, is significant for at least three reasons. Firstly: a very prominent figure on the left who denounces the malfunctioning of the justice system (due to a procedural flaw, Salis had not been properly served with a legal document) is not trying to circumvent justice but is seeking to assert her rights. Secondly: nowhere in Salis’s defence is there any attempt to refute the allegation of unfair dismissal; rather, it is taken for granted that what a significant section of the left has always regarded as a mistake – discretionary dismissal – must be considered a right. Thirdly, even if Salis were not to regret the political line adopted by her party colleagues on the issue of dismissals, she is effectively asserting that, if an employee performs poorly, an employer has every right to dismiss that individual. The story of the MEP from Avs is equally instructive: the ability to advocate one thing in public and practise another in private is a freedom that many claim should be recognised for everyone. It is unclear whether Salis is aware of these lessons – which appear to be unintentional – but after providing notable insights into the defence of MPs’ privileges, including the vigorous campaign waged by her left-wing colleagues to uphold her immunity, today we can only thank a symbol of anti-politics for having become, perhaps unwittingly, a symbol – for a day – of the fight against anti-politics.

That would be great. Many thanks, and who knows – perhaps something will come out of the hat in the future.