Italy shows some thinning of skin

Democracies are far more lenient about critical commentary, even abuse, about their leaders than, say, tinpot states and people’s republics. Part of this culture is because leaders of these democracies would find it embarrassing to come across as being overtly upset or angry with the censure or abuse targeted at them. Being unruffled is seen as a strength. As we said, it’s a cultural thing, this taking it on the chin – to a point, the point itself differing from society to society.

In that context, Italy is showing more hypersensitive skin of late. Roberto Saviano, author of Gomorrah – the much-acclaimed 2006 literary-journalistic book on the Neapolitan mafia, the Camorra – faced a defamation verdict on Thursday for calling current Italian PM Giorgia Meloni a ‘bastard’ when she was a minister. The outburst came in a December 2020 TV interview when asked to comment on the death of a 6-month-old illegal migrant from Guinea in a shipwreck: ‘All the bullshit [said about NGOs], sea taxis, cruises [for migrants]. All I can say is: bastards, how could you? Meloni, [fellow far-right leader Matteo] Salvini: bastards.’ For many, Saviano being hauled up is natural, not surprising one bit. For many others with a more liberal bent of mind, this is new petulance from Europe’s political establishment in the face of democratic gaali.