Schlein: 'Golden power over banks? Interventionist government, rewards only one side'

Strong tones against the government when it comes to immigration. 'We have a very clear position on what the Meloni government is doing in Albania. It is a scam to the Italians on the skin of the most fragile people,' Schlein said, speaking in a room of the Palace of the Province of Trento. "When Giorgia Meloni presented her inhuman and illegal Albania model she said: 'In this way people who want to apply for asylum in Italy will no longer arrive in Italy, but will first be taken to Albania. There their asylum claims will be examined and those who have the right will be allowed to stay in Italy, those who do not will be repatriated. That model has already failed miserably. Of course Giorgia Meloni blames the judges, I would tend to blame those who forgot to read Italian and European laws, because it was already clear that it was an illegal model,' Schlein adds. When the model did not work, 'they decided to shrug and change the use of those centres in Albania, which now house people already detained in Italy, in the CPRs, which moreover are not full,' Schlein added, speaking of 'additional costs, not only for the suffering of these people, but also for the pockets of Italians. "But if they are so quick to repatriate them, why haven't they already repatriated them to Italy, avoiding further burden on the pockets of Italians?" concluded the PD secretary.

On the banking reorganisation there is 'excessive interventionism on the part of the government, aimed not at the prospect of consolidation, not a precise industrial design, but questionable interventions that aim to reward some interests and operations rather than others. So the PD, on this, supports the proper functioning of market rules and not seeing them bent to political reasons'. For the Dem secretary, in short, the 'golden power' 'has been used in a discretionary manner'.

"I would like to point out that the Istat report of these days blatantly refutes the lies of the Meloni government, starting with the wage issue, which is dramatic. On this we propose the minimum wage, which means strengthening collective bargaining and saying that below nine euros an hour cannot go either, because it is exploitation,' Schlein then said, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of her speech at the Trento Festival of Economics. 'It means,' Schlein further added, 'insisting on the contract renewals that five million workers are still waiting for. "That Istat report, however, also shows other things on which the Meloni government continues to give different numbers: healthcare. The most shocking thing is perhaps the figure for which 9.9 per cent of Italians stop getting treatment because the waiting lists are too long and also because they do not have the money to afford it. This is how this government is silently dismantling public healthcare, in our opinion. It is dismantling it because, by cutting resources, there is a shortage of doctors and nurses, waiting lists are getting longer and people either have the money to jump the queue or they give up treatment. We believe this is an extremely serious condition, and we have told the government where to put 5 billion to save public healthcare. And we continue to insist on this,' Schlein concluded.

We must 'save public healthcare from the dismantling that this government is doing. President Meloni claims the largest investment in public health in the history of Italy. As any of her predecessors could have done, because it is clear that the figure has always increased but not as much as GDP or inflation. It is not calculated in absolute terms and since you have been president the percentage has fallen to 6.4 from 7.2, the lowest in the last 15 years,' Schlien attacks. "We have proposed where to get the 5 billion a year that is needed to reach the European average of 7.5 per cent of GDP. We did not say to take it from the Irpef reform, which the government has done and has had no effect, since last year Italians spent 4 billion more on health care. They take away with one hand what they pretend to give with the other,' he adds.

"The position of the Democratic Party is against it. We have also asserted this with respect to our administrators despite their great quality. They are helping us to build the next". This was said by Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein speaking to journalists on the sidelines of her speech at the Trento Festival of Economics on the subject of the third term of office, which in Trentino has opened a political crisis between the Lega and Fratelli d'Italia.

"On Europe we have a very clear idea. Today, faced with a geopolitical scenario that is so unpredictable and so different from the past, we must focus on European strategic autonomy. How to do this? First of all by overcoming unanimity, because national vetoes and selfishness have always prevented true European integration towards a more political Europe, towards a federal Europe. Therefore, overcoming unanimity in order to be able to decide together by qualified majority, to be able to unblock necessary advances on economic and fiscal policies, but also on foreign, security and defence policies,' explained the secretary of the Democratic Party as she closed her speech at the Trento Festival of Economics.