Italy now

Irene Panozzo detects a shift in the debate about Italy's controversial role in Iraq

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Italy's coalition government rejected a motion tabled by the centre-left opposition to withdraw its troops from Iraq. In his address to the parliament last Thursday, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called for a greater role for the UN in Iraq, stressing that Italy supports a clear timetable for the transfer of power to an Iraqi government. This subtle change in the Italian government's position on Iraq came after the prime minister's two-day trip to the US and his meetings with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and US President George W Bush.

Public and political pressure for the government to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq has been growing since pictures of torture and abuse in Abu Ghraib prison became public, added to the death of an Italian soldier in Nassiriya last week.

The centre-left opposition had always remained divided between those who accepted the Italian peace-keeping role in Iraq and those who refused to have any kind of involvement in the war. Last week's events allowed the opposition to finally find a common position on Iraq and draft a motion for last Thursday's debate, calling for the withdrawal of Italy's 3,000 troops, the third largest foreign contingent after US and British forces.

The opposition's move started earlier last week, when Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission and the main challenger to Berlusconi's premiership in the Italian general elections in 2006, declared that "after the latest events, it is difficult to define our mission in Iraq as a peace-keeping operation," maintaining that total withdrawal was the only option open to Italy.

The upcoming European elections, scheduled for 12-13 June, are also pressuring the government to conform to public opinion. The poll is seen as an important mid-term test for Berlusconi's centre-right coalition. The strain on the prime minister was evident in his attacks on his opponents, whom he labelled "enemies of democracy". Exponents of the Northern League, Berlusconi's ally and coalition partner, expressed doubts about the prime minister's will to extend Italian troops' mandate beyond 30 June.

Italy's controversial mission in Iraq is becoming difficult for the government to handle. Not only is it dividing the coalition, it is providing the centre-left opposition with much-needed common ground. Political debates have become increasingly heated since last Thursday's parliamentary address by Berlusconi, and Piero Fassino, secretary of the main opposition party, the Democrats of the Left, made a statement during an electoral meeting in Catania, Sicily, on Sunday to the effect that, "we are a big country but those who lead us are small."

The main point in favour of the opposition is the public's dissatisfaction and anger over the government's stance on Iraq. According to the results of an opinion poll published in last Sunday's La Repubblica, 63 per cent of voters are in favour of immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Forty-six per cent of voters also declared the willingness to take part in public demonstrations like those staged in March 2003. If any lesson can be learned from the Spanish experience, the opposition may yet find a way to express itself through the European elections.