Mattarella’s three strategies for defending liberal democracy

There are occasions when the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in order to tackle extremism, gets straight to the point, calling a spade a spade, as happens every time the Head of State speaks of the Russian threat, the horror of Putin, or the risk of backing down in the face of a siege on the West – which, according to Mattarella, is reminiscent of the period when Adolf Hitler posed a threat to Europe. There are other occasions, such as yesterday at the Quirinale during the ‘Ventaglio’ speech, when the President of the Republic, in order to tackle extremism, uses considerable verbal circumlocutions, adopts deliberately vague phrasing and pretends to stick to generalities; yet only those who do not wish to understand can pretend not to have grasped the President’s message.

The most interesting anti-demagogic jibes made yesterday by the Head of State centred on three themes in particular. The first barb was aimed at the pacifism of the white flag. Mattarella said that a common European defence does not pose a threat, is not aimed at war, but is merely a tool to guarantee peace; he also pointed out that investing in European defence – which, to be effective, must obviously be armed with more than just slingshots – is a valuable way of preventing the law of the strongest from prevailing. The second arrow was the one Mattarella chose to fire at another target: security. Mattarella said that laws are not written on the basis of individual cases (remember Roggero?). He said that minority positions can under no circumstances justify acts of violence (remember the No Tav movement?). He said that, in the face of action against the public authorities in Val di Susa, ‘no hesitation or caution is acceptable when it comes to condemning and countering such aggressive behaviour’ (remember all those who waited hours on end, even days, before strongly condemning it?). Speaking on immigration, he said that he considers the strategy of managing these issues by following ‘the logic of the emergency’ to be ‘entirely counterproductive’ (remember those in power who increase penalties depending on the media hype?). The message is cryptic only to those who do not wish to connect the dots. A ruling class that cares about respect for the state – and the rule of law – must remember that the state is weakened when the police are discredited, when laws are drafted in the heat of the moment, when the country is governed by the logic of emergency, and when ambiguities are fuelled in the face of violence. The third arrow, quieter but no less lethal, concerns Europe. The Head of State says he is well aware of the criticism levelled at the Union for the lack of decisiveness in its actions, “criticism levelled relentlessly, above all by those who, in every way and under all circumstances, the possibility of more effective decision-making and operational tools”, and in this passage the President takes a swipe at the ‘Amatriciana-style’ sovereigntists, who first prevent the Union from acting and then, ever so promptly, accuse it of failing to act (you know the sort who refuse to fight to overcome the unanimity requirement on decisions that matter in Europe?).

Mattarella’s three arrows may appear to be unrelated to one another, but they all actually share a common goal. To defend our liberal democracy, we must remember that demagogues lurk amongst those who do not wish to strengthen our superstate, amongst those who do not wish to bolster our defences against the enemies of freedom, and amongst those who fail to realise which small, everyday actions trample upon our respect for the state. Piero Calamandrei would say that freedom is like the air: we only realise its importance when it is lacking. Sergio Mattarella might say today: the rule of law is like the air; we only realise its importance when there is someone who does not defend it, someone who does not protect it, someone who does not do everything in their power to avoid trampling on it.