The Ministry of interior affairs, Central electoral services, sent out a memorandum which shows the ministry’s worries about right lo vote enlargement. The memorandum object is “Passive and active (note: it means the right to vote and to run for elections) electoral vote enlarged to non EU citizens”.
The ministry finally understood that civil society, differently from politicians, has the need to move from slogans and words to facts. Civil society does not anymore talk about the right to vote in an abstract way but it does in a real practicable way.
Many Councils started to believe that it is about time that migrants start voting. Thousands migrant citizens stably live in our territories, they are part of cities’ life, they increase richness with their work. Cities also changed because of their presence.
Of coarse there are problems which come from cohabitation. But if all members of society partake its everyday life, this can become a way of creating integration.
The contribution of migrants, who enrich from both an economical and cultural point of view our society, is essential in order to build a society which is not deaf and blind to new needs and other cultures.
This memorandum, which is the government answer to the initiatives of many councils which are to change their statutes in order to enlarge the right to vote to migrant citizens, negatively considers the chance that migrant citizens vote for administrative elections.
This means that the government tries to stop all Councils which are studying proposals of electoral changes. These proposals are prepared by very expert lawmakers.
These projects are ambitious and they are to clash with different obstacles, political and bureaucratic ones. We knew this, the memorandum is just the first obstacle.
It is a pity that the Ministry forgets that the European Parliament approved of a resolution in January 2004. This resolution includes the concept of civil citizenship.
The resolution urges all EU members to guarantee that no discriminations occur when treating citizenship. It also urges all countries to allow non-EU citizens to “benefit from a status which should provide for economical, social amd political duties and rights, such the right to vote fro administrative municipal and European elections”. The EU Parliament underlines the need of civil citizenship that should increase the sense of belonging to a community and of integration.
I believe that the Ministry’s memorandum arrived a little too late…
It isn’t in fact anymore possible to stop changes that civil society (both Italian and foreign citizens) and many local administrators and politicians want.
Helping a system of real partecipation via activating a fundamental right is taking part in a battle in the name of rights and in the name of a cohabitation which should be more representative and shoould enpower new citizens.