More Italian Election Posters

We've been busy taking pictures of Italian election posters, but we can't promise that we are any the wiser about the parties or the issues. One gentleman told us yesterday that it was all a spectacle, and that the result would change nothing. Now, we know that that remark could possibly apply to Canada and other countries. But as many of you know, Italy has a particularly difficult time with establishing a stable government, partly because of the deep political divisions in this society and partly because of an electoral system that makes it difficult to put together strong coalitions. As many Italians say, that may not be a bad thing. The country has seemed to tick along quite well without resolution on the macro-political side.

The newest party (formed December 2007) - "The Left Rainbow" - meant to unite the parties of the far left as the Partito Democratico has done with the parties of the moderate left.

Poster of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, with its leader Pier Ferdinando Casini. Like several other parties, it has put its leader front and centre in its advertisements. It's a party of the centre-right. Somebody said that Casini is a graduate of Omri's high school here (Liceo Galvani). It says "It's time for a more secure Italy" and "The Italy of Tomorrow."

Poster of the Italia dei Valori (Italy of Values) Party. Again, it centres on its leader Antonio diPietro, a former prosecutor whose group swore to clean up the corruption in Italian politics and uncovered many unsavoury examples in the Social Democratic and Christian Democratic parties. In the political pantheon, this party seems centre-left. But that would be much too simplistic. It says "We have cut the fat in politics." But it's being sarcastic as it is attacking corruption.

Poster for the Democratic Party. As we mentioned earlier in this blog, this is a very new (5 months old) party, composed of a combination of the old Sinistra Democratica (Democratic Left, itself a successor to the old Communist Party) and several other parties of the centre-left, including some Catholic social-democratic parties. Its leader is Walter Veltroni. It says "Ready to Change Italy."

A poster for Silvio Berlusconi's party. It says "The Left [current government] Has brought Italy to its Knees: Rise Italy."


This is Stefano Morselli and his "Tricolor Flame" party. The poster says: "There is a right [wing]. A promise. A commitment." In the background, repeated are the words that symbolize his party's concerns: "Security, clandestine immigration, family, work, tradition."

Okay, enough for now.