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May 18th, 2013 
Peter Nolan
Posted
Thousands of protesters have rallied in Rome against the policies of Italy’s new coalition government.
Led by trade unionists wielding red flags and placards, they urged centre-left prime minister Enrico Letta to scrap austerity measures and focus on job creation.
After less than a month in power, Mr Letta is trying to hold together a coalition between his centre-left Democratic party and the centre-right People of Freedom, led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Opinion polls suggest that public trust in Mr Letta’s fragile coalition is dropping with the country experiencing its longest recession in more than 40 years.
Confidence in the government, cobbled together after inconclusive elections, is already falling, with a poll on Friday by the SWG institute showing its approval rating had dropped to 34 per cent from 43 per cent at the start of the month.
“We can’t wait anymore” and “We need money to live” were among slogans on banners held up by the crowds.
“We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience,” protester Enzo Bernardis said.
Mr Letta promised to make jobs his top priority when he came to power in April after two months of political deadlock.
But several protesters complained he was not sticking to his vow, focusing instead on a property tax reform outlined this week.
Union leaders said he needed to shift away from the austerity agenda pursued by former prime minister Mario Monti, who introduced a range of spending cuts, tax hikes and pension reform to shore up strained public finances.
“We need to start over with more investment,” Maurizio Landini, secretary-general of the left-wing metalworkers union Fiom, said.
“If we don’t restart with public and private investments, there will no new jobs.”
Italy is stuck in its longest recession since quarterly records began in 1970, and jobless rates are close to record highs, with youth unemployment at around 38 per cent.
Other protesters were pessimistic that Mr Letta’s fragile government would be able to take effective action.
“This government will last a very short time,” demonstrator Marco Silvani said.
“What we need is a new leftist party that fights for the rights of the people.”
ABC/Reuters
Topics:
world-politics,
government-and-politics,
activism-and-lobbying,
international-financial-crisis,
business-economics-and-finance,
italy
Source Article from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-19/thousands-rally-against-italys-new-government/4698482
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