Green light from the Chamber of Deputies to the majority resolution extending the state of emergency on the coronavirus crisis until 15 October. The document was approved with 286 votes in favor, 221 against and 5 abstentions.
In the morning, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte reported in the Chamber with a long speech in which he explained that "the extension, if we purge the discussion from ideological positions, is an inevitable choice, in some respects obligatory , based on purely technical evaluations. I am not obviously saying that a political evaluation is precluded, indeed today it is requested of you, but I want to say that the government is carrying out this evaluation on the basis of mere organizational, operational requests, certainly not because you want to make instrumental use for a liberticidal attitude, repress dissent or reduce the population into a state of awe. They are serious statements that have no correspondence in reality. "
"If you do not share the need to extend the emergency, say it frankly to the government but do not confuse the population , because today on social media there are some citizens who believe that extending the state of emergency means renewing the lockdown from August 1st. That's not the case at all. "
"We maintain a cautious level of guarding, we do not intend to introduce restrictive measures - continued Conte -. I can assure you that on the part of the government, my staff, of all the ministers, there is no intention to dramatize, nor to feed unjustified fears in the population The decision to extend the state of emergency cannot be traced back to the desire to create an unjustified alarm situation ". And then he reiterates that there is no intention to adopt "new restrictive measures but, if necessary, to confirm those minimum precautionary measures that are allowing us to live with the virus".
"The resolution approved yesterday in the Senate - underlines the premier - proposes October 15 as the date" for the extension of the state of emergency by Coronavirus: "I announce that the government, if confirmed here in the Chamber, will stick to this temporal indication" . "The declaration of extension of the state of emergency does not harm our image abroad, on the contrary: Italy is seen as a safe country. Even the parliamentary debate should stick to legal and technical profiles without dramatizing because this dramatization could create harm to the image of Italy abroad ".
"The accusation of wanting to extend the state of emergency to take advantage of extra-order powers is wrong - explained Conte -. If the CDM adopted the resolution to extend the state of emergency, the Prime Minister would not therefore be authorized to issue dpcm . the President of the Council power of ministers does not derive from the state of emergency declaration, nor, therefore, regularly involve effect of extension, but is rooted in the primary law rules. the state of emergency declaration certainly is a prerequisite of in fact, the substantive requirement, but could in no way legitimize the adoption of the dpcm, if it were not supported by an enabling source of legislative rank. Therefore, in order to be able to continue to be exercised after July 31, that power will still require further regulatory intervention, or a new law decree, which will be submitted to the parliamentary examination for its conversion into law. or, the terms contained in the law decrees n. 19 and n. 33 "adopted during the state of emergency," consistently with the extended term ".
"I will not use mincing words. I think what is happening is very serious. This is the piece of a liberticidal drift that the government has put in place with the excuse of Coronavirus there is no other reason". This was stated by the leader of FDI Giorgia Meloni in the Chamber during the debate on the extension of the state of emergency and returning to what was said yesterday as well, namely that "a liberticidal drift" is underway by the premier. " You need the state of emergency to consolidate government and power by doing what you want without rules and controls," he added.