Premier Matteo Renzi on
Tuesday took pot shots at opponents of his proposed Jobs Act
after dissenters within his Democratic Party (PD) failed to
rally consensus against him.
He chided fellow PD member and former premier Massimo
D'Alema, who led the internal dissenters along with former party
chief Pier Luigi Bersani.
"Every time he speaks, I win more points," Renzi said in an
interview to be aired on TV talk show Ballarò.
"If D'Alema didn't exist, we'd have to invent him".
The premier moved on to unions, who are vocal opponents of
provisions in his Jobs Act that would scale back protections
against unfair dismissal for new hires.
"I have a lot of respect for unions, but where they all
those years while young people's rights were being trampled?"
the feisty young premier told Ballarò political talk show.
Renzi also commented on his government's plan to stimulate
consumption by giving workers an advance on their severance pay.
"That would create a liquidity problem for businesses,"
Renzi said. "Big ones would make it, small ones would be in
trouble. So now we're thinking of allocating European Central
Bank funds to small-and-medium businesses for workers".
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