«Yes, I have adopted decisions that I don’t agree with, it has happened several times, the president promulgates laws and issues decrees, but he has rules that he must respect. Several times I have promulgated laws that I do not agree with, which I considered wrong and inappropriate, but they had been voted by Parliament and I have the duty to promulgate unless there are obvious unconstitutionality. In that case I have the duty not to promulgate, but they must be evident, a single doubt does not authorize me not to promulgate”. The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, said this in Rome, at the “25 years of the Permanent Youth-Publishers Observatory” event.
Responding to a student’s question about his role as referee in the various functions he has, Mattarella added: «Democracy lives on rules that must never be violated. One day a boy said to me: ‘You don’t promulgate (a law, ed.) because it is for good purposes. Woe betide you if you don’t do it for a good purpose, because otherwise even those who want to do something for a bad purpose are empowered. The rules must always be respected. My task is to invite national cohesion, civil and respectful discussion and to invite respect for the rules, as well as respecting the limits that I myself have.”
“We must avoid the risk of relying on the web as if it were your trusted doctor”
“There is a significant percentage of people who think that the earth is flat or there is great alarm among doctors and in the world of healthcare, due to the return of some diseases that seemed to have been eradicated. At your age I had companions who they suffered from polio, which disappeared thanks to vaccination, or there was measles which was a threat and disappeared, but now it is starting to resurface because we are below the necessary vaccination level. So we must avoid the risk of relying on the web as if it were the doctor of trust. We also see it these days with dramatic consequences.” Thus the head of state responding to a student’s question at the ceremony for the 25th anniversary of the Permanent Observatory for Young Publishers.
“Against tools that are extremely dangerous, it is essential to be trained. And having tools of knowledge that defend us is a fundamental action. There is the risk of being captured by the smartphone and becoming prisoners of a world that does not correspond to reality”, Mattarella said responding to a student’s question.
State powers are not opposing fortresses
“Being an arbitrator means urging all other constitutional bodies of the State to respect the rules and means reminding everyone of the limits of their powers and the spheres in which they operate. This applies to the executive, legislative and judicial powers. Each power and body of the State must knowing that it has limits that must be respected because the functions of each are not opposing fortresses to wrest power from each other, but elements of the Constitution called to collaborate, each with its own task and respecting that of others. It is the principle of checking and balance”, said the President of the Republic.
I referee but the players have to help me
“I also used the image of the President of the Republic as a referee, and I said that the players must also help him in applying the rules, plurality in the aspect of the rules is fundamental.”
Getting informed to avoid manipulation is a right
“Getting information to avoid manipulative traps is a democratic right which is fundamental, it differentiates the simple user from the citizen, it is a fundamental distinction”, said the President of the Republic.