Casini: I am leaving Parliament after 44 years; I will not stand for re-election

“It is right that my journey should end here.” Pier Ferdinando Casini confirms his decision not to stand for re-election in the upcoming general election in a letter published in Quotidiano Nazionale and in an interview with Corriere della Sera. First elected to Parliament in 1983 and re-elected in the following ten parliamentary terms, Casini has been a Member of Parliament without interruption for 43 years and is the longest-serving of those still in office.

“Some people,” says the former Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and current PD senator, “will think that Casini took quite a while to call it a day. I reply, with a smile, that they’re probably right. Ever since I was young, after all, I’ve always believed that the hardest thing in politics wouldn’t be so much getting there or staying there – even though staying on hasn’t exactly proved that easy – but that the really tricky part would be identifying the right moment to step down.”

Casini (who has never held a government post) thanks the centre-left for supporting him over the last ten years as an independent senator and explains the reasons behind his decision: ‘I am truly grateful for this trust, but on the eve of an electoral process that promises to be long and complicated, my thinking is simple and clear: new times call for figures more in tune with the political parties that will be presenting themselves to the electorate. It is right that my journey should end here.’ He emphasises, however, that his departure from Parliament does not mean abandoning his political commitment.

‘Politics is a passion that one does not abandon, and it will always be worth striving for the defence of liberal democracy, for social justice in a world rife with unacceptable inequalities, for peace and harmonious coexistence amongst peoples, for the values of a West besieged by enemies both external and internal, and for a Europe which, alone, can enable our children to be masters of their own destiny rather than vassals to anyone else.”

When it is pointed out to him that in two years’ time there will be another election for the Quirinale and that he was, and remains, one of the frontrunners, Casini remarks: ‘As the history of the Republic shows, one does not stand as a candidate for the Quirinale; one is elected.’