After the declarations, the political distances within the majority on the Safe Roads operation emerged in the parliamentary proceedings. During the session of the Defense Commission of the Chamber on Wednesday 23 September, the League said no to the reformulation of its resolution (first signatory was MP Eugenio Zoffili), being examined by the Commission, suggested by the Government representative, the Undersecretary of Defense Matteo Perego of Cremnago (Forza Italia).
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The undersecretary emphasized the fact that «any increase in the units dedicated to the operation should be accompanied by suitable changes to make the activity more effective». Matteo Perego of Cremnago explained that he believes «it is more appropriate to valorise the Carabinieri, due to the greater coherence between its institutional competences and the aims of the Safe Roads operation». He expressed a favorable opinion on the premises of the Zoffili resolution on condition that it was reformulated. In turn, Zoffili pointed out "that he cannot accept, at present, the proposed reformulation, deeming it necessary to further investigate the merits". The hiring of new Carabinieri, he underlined, is a process that "requires a long time and cannot respond to the current urgency, especially with respect to the security needs in the most at-risk areas".
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The distances
In summary, the League asks to urgently strengthen the operation and increase the contingent up to 10,000 soldiers. The allies, starting with Defense Minister Guido Crosetto (FdI), are slowing down. The minister has repeatedly expressed the hope of progressively returning the soldiers involved in the operation to purely military, training and state defense tasks, underlining that the continuous use of the Army in public order tasks takes precious personnel away from specialist training.
For its part, Forza Italia is convinced that in the end it is necessary to carry out an evaluation of the use of the military, trying as far as possible to find a balance between the need to guarantee urban security and the needs of the defense sector, starting with missions abroad.
Zoffili (Lega): «We are not willing to take a step back»
In relation to the Government representative's reformulation of the Strade Sicure resolution which was not accepted by Matteo Salvini's party, Zoffili sent a clear message to his colleagues in the majority: «On Strade Sicure, let's go straight on our path. We cannot accept formulas that debase the meaning of our initiative which goes in the direction of moving more than 3000 soldiers from the barracks, immediately using them on the streets, to strengthen the security of Italians and extend the operation where it is not yet active. We do not understand - he added - the position of the allies who evidently have not yet grasped the urgency of a measure that aims to increase the number of soldiers engaged in "Safe Roads", preferring other interventions. We obviously agree with the hiring of more Carabinieri but it is not an immediate measure like the one the League has been insisting on since last November when we presented the resolution to the Defense Committee in the Chamber. We - concluded Zoffili - are not willing to take any step back from the desire to immediately increase the number of soldiers on Italian streets to 10 thousand, not as a replacement but in support of our law enforcement forces who must continue to carry out their work with their own functions. We will continue to insist with determination to get our resolution approved as soon as possible. Time is running out and crime doesn't wait," he concluded.
