Rome - Italy's "madness" is part of what makes it great, Premier
Matteo Renzi said in a Time magazine article released Thursday.
"Italy will never be a normal country. Because Italy is
Italy," said Renzi in his first interview with a non-Italian
outlet since becoming premier in February.
"If we were a normal country, we wouldn't have Rome. We
wouldn't have Florence. We wouldn't have the marvel that is
Venice. There is in the DNA of the Italians a bit of madness,
which in the overwhelming majority of cases is positive".
The former mayor of Florence did criticize an "appalling"
political system and "complicated" bureaucracy, insisting those
things were in need of a dose of normalcy.
Renzi said he sees his efforts to reform both systems
through a series of ambitious measures is what sets him apart
from his predecessors such as Enrico Letta, his fellow member of
the Democratic Party whom he unseated in a party coup.
Since then he has built a reputation as a reformer, willing
to reach across the aisle and work with opposition figures.
Renzi's willingness to work with ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi is a chief example, enraging much of the center left
especially since his binding conviction for tax fraud last year,
his subsequent expulsion from public office, and an ongoing
trial into allegations of bribing Senators to switch parties.
"Berlusconi is the head of the main opposition party. In
many other institutional systems, it would be illogical or
unnatural that the head of a party could have (such) problems
with the justice system," said Renzi.
"But in Italy, the state of affairs is that Berlusconi
still represents a significant slice of the population.
"I'm not forming a government with Silvio Berlusconi. I'm
not making secret agreements with Silvio Berlusconi. I want to
make an agreement with him, because you shouldn't write the
rules of the game by yourself. The rules of the game should be
written together".
Renzi, who at 39 is Italy's youngest premier in history,
also said he hoped to see the country become Europe's leader
within the next 10 years, possibly as part of a 'United States
of Europe'.
"I believe that Europe needs to be given back to the
people, to families," he said.
"(That) means having a vision of the European Union, in
which you go towards a United States of Europe".
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