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The 52-Year-Old Italian Upstart.(World Affairs; THE VIEW FROM THE LEFT)(Walter Veltroni)(Interview)
Byline: Barbie Nadeau
'I honestly believe that we are now facing our last chance.'
Former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, at 52, would be Italy's youngest elected prime minister if he wins against 71-year-old Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's April elections. Borrowing from American presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign slogan "Yes we can," Veltroni is blanketing the country with his message "Si puo fare" in a big green ecofriendly bus. NEWSWEEK's Barbie Nadeau caught up with Veltroni aboard the bus in rural Sicily. Excerpts:
Nadeau: Italy has a few problems right now, from infrastructure issues to the economy, that are hampering its growth. Do you see this moment as the last chance for Italy?
Veltroni: Yes, that is absolutely correct. I honestly believe we are facing our last chance. This country has been in a difficult situation for a number of years. It is a country that cannot seem to realize growth when it needs to. It is a country with immense potential and immense resources. You see the marvelous beauty outside the window of this Pullman bus. We have talented entrepreneurs, we have hard workers, but it is all blocked by a political system that has kept it blocked for a long time. And that makes it impossible to find a solution in either the institutional sector or in the political sector, and to realize what every other country in the West seems to manage: a period of reform.
With all these problems, do you really want to win? Why would you want to take on what seems impossible?
[Laughs] It is a sense of national responsibility. I think that if this country continues as it has, or goes on with the right, we will have a government that is forever old and tired. It is absolutely impossible for this country to ignore the need for change. Plus, with the international situation as it is today, I think that Italy realizes that it needs to change its direction, to be more productive, to adopt an economic policy that will sustain businesses, to open the channels of communication.
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