«This is a reform that bears my name and I therefore assume political responsibility for it. If there were any defects in communication or approach, they were mine too.” These are the words of the Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio the day after the result of the referendum.
But “I don’t consider it a personal defeat,” he added in an interview with Corriere. «It was a reform I believed in and into which I think I put all my effort. I was certain we would win. I bow to the sovereign people. But I’m not thinking about resigning. I still have many things to do, even if some reforms will stop”, underlining that what will stop will be “the limitation of pre-trial detention” which “could be more difficult”.
The action of the robes, with the rejection of the justice referendum, in Nordio’s opinion will be more invasive: «it will limit the political-parliamentary initiative in some areas, starting with immigration». «Unfortunately now the intervention of the associated and unionized judiciary will be that of strong political pressure. It’s a victory for the ANM, let’s be clear. This will give the ANM a bargaining power that will be increased and which the left will also have to take into account because sooner or later they too will go into government. Furthermore, there will be an internal dispute in the coalition to attribute the victory. And they will have to deal with the ANM, the real winner, which becomes an anomalous political entity, which opposes the governments”, explained the Minister of Justice speaking on Sky Tg24.
«Now – he added – we must dedicate ourselves to making justice more efficient: to the competitions to be announced to complete the staffing of the magistrates and to the stabilization of the Pnrr staff. Taking it philosophically, we say that the defeat saves us a lot of time that we would have had to dedicate to the implementing decrees to do all this.” However, he reiterates, also referring to the controversies that have affected Demastro and Bartolozzi, “there will be no changes in the ministerial structure”. Constitutional referendums, he continued, «have always ended badly, except for the one on the abolition of a quota of parliamentarians. Furthermore, the others have attributed a political significance to the referendum.” For this reason, in the centre-left, according to him, “there will now be a heated fight for his paternity and consequently for the leadership in Campo Largo, which only becomes united when it says no”.
Nordio on Delmastro: I know little about the story, of course he will clarify
«Until yesterday I was so busy with the referendum that the story (of Undersecretary Delmastro, ed.) came to me completely unexpectedly, I didn’t even know what it was about. I’m sure Delmastro will be able to clarify.” Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said this in an interview with SkyTg24. “Knowing him, beyond some excess of communication, one can think of him in everything except that he has some mafia connection or knowledge”, added the Keeper of the Seals. “If you are having dinner in a restaurant you cannot ask for the owner’s identity card – continued the minister – I myself have shaken hundreds of hands in this referendum campaign, I wouldn’t want it to one day come out that I hugged a mafioso… The matter will certainly be clarified, I read that the Anti-Mafia will also take care of it”.
“Bartolozzi’s position is not in question”
“No, absolutely.” This is how Justice Minister Carlo Nordio responds to Sky Tg24 on the question of whether the position of the ministry’s head of cabinet Giusi Bartolozzi was under discussion, in light of the results of the referendum. «With regards to the observations made by both members of my ministry and others of our coalition, I believe that by balancing the over the top observations made by ours and those made by them, the algebraic situation is equivalent. So I don’t think that this excess of controversy, which I have always tried to stay away from, has had much of an impact”, added Nordio.
“Next year I will return to my studies”
«Next year I will complete a mathematical year following which I believe I have earned the right to a little rest…». The Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, interviewed by «Start» on SkyTg24 responded thus to Giovanna Pancheri who asked him what he would do if he were asked to continue at the end of his mandate. «I was called to this very high position – adds Nordio – for which I always thank the Prime Minister, to carry out a series of reforms, the most important of which unfortunately did not go well, probably also through my fault: not so much due to the fact that political defeats are paid for but also for reasons not only of age but also of completion of a certain path of reforms that we will try to complete, I think I will be able to return to my studies».