«Another great battle that sees the Democratic Party at the forefront is that against differentiated autonomy because it is a project that wants to further divide a country that really needs to be mended». Thus in Vibo Valentia the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein concluded the regional Unity Festival. “We have seen – he added – with the data from the Invalsi tests that Italy is already too divided and that it is not the same as having quality education in a land like Calabria, while in other regions there are greater services and greater attention. All this is not right. We believe that there can be no redemption for Italy without the redemption of the South. And this also passes through the ability to create the conditions so that the children who study here do not have to leave to find a job”.
Minimum salary
The national secretary of the PD also focused on the topic of the world of work: «The Democratic Party’s attention on the minimum wage and youth employment is maximum and constant. As regards the minimum wage – she added – we are having a battle of civilization because a wage under 9 euros an hour is not work but exploitation and cannot be legal. And we are fighting the same battle for youth employment and for the protection of those who lose a job at 50 and, having a dependent family, do not know how to move forward. We are giving a message of hope to give to the people. We will insist in Calabria and in the rest of the country – Schlein said – on the right that people have to build a better future for themselves and who very often feel abandoned by politics”.
Work
And, on the budget, Elly Schlein said: «The Democratic Party is waging a battle throughout the country so that greater funding for public health is established in the budget. Because it’s not right to see cuts in services to people and endless waiting lists. This means – he added – that those who have the money can turn to private facilities, while those who cannot afford it even give up treatment. This is not the Italy that designs our Constitution. We will therefore fight to ask for more funding for public health and to ensure there is no shortage of staff in hospital departments. And in this context – Schlein said – we must pay great attention to Calabria and its difficulties. Because even the Calabrians must have the opportunity to benefit from quality public healthcare.”
Pnrr
“We do not accept the government’s choices on the Pnrr and we are surprised that the regional presidents make the interests of the party and political affiliation prevail over those of the communities they govern” said the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. “We consider the choice to allow ten months of uncertainty to pass over the Pnrr’s investments to be wicked,” she added. For Catanzaro, for example, 15 million euros of urban regeneration projects risk being missed. Is this the attention that the government reserves for the South? This is a huge mistake. The executive plays a shell game. He is canceling from the Pnrr, after 10 months of waiting, 16 billion euros of projects intended mainly for the Municipalities, which are the entities that are spending the resources well and quickly. The government says that it will inject other resources to cover those it is taking away from the Pnrr, but this is a rip-off because the money they want to put in is structural and development funds which would in any case have been paid to the Regions and Municipalities”. “The truth – concluded the secretary of the Democratic Party – is that funds are being taken away from development, good business and quality work.”
Bridge over the Strait
Elly Schlein, concluding the regional celebration of ‘l’Unità’ in Vibo Valentia, also focused on the construction of the Bridge over the Strait: «Minister Salvini should realize that Calabria and Sicily need infrastructural responses to improve traffic and mobility rather than thinking of an anachronistic project like that of the Strait Bridge, which will take a long time to be built. We expect this – he added – and certainly not the cuts that are also being decided for infrastructure projects in these territories”.