Now it is up to political parties to do their part in Italy

We are floating in a dangerous zone, between the before the fact and the fact. The former is the mandate to form a new government given by the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano to the senator for life Mario Monti, after the resignation of the fourth Berlusconi Government and at the end of the fast-paced consultations of the Head of State.
The latter is a Government that governs after having obtained Parliamentary confidence, the broadest and most convinced as possible, for a project that combines shoring up of accounts and growth, as Monti himself explained.
We know that on financial markets there was a positive "Monti effect" at the end of last week, after the collapse of the prices of Italian securities, with yields breaching the 7% threshold and the spread with Bunds exceeding 550 basis points. What we did not know is how those same markets would have behaved yesterday, even after the strong political encouragement that immediately arrived from the United States, Germany, France, the EU Commission and European Parliaments.

Following a positive start, there was a clear inversion of the trend (at the time of the five year BTp auction that was sold at a record yield of 6.29%). The stock exchange lost 2% and the spread with Germany ended at 492 basis points after having breached once again the 500 basis point threshold. It is true that for the first time since August the yields on Spanish Bonos went beyond 6% (with a spread with Bunds of 420 basis points) and that there is growing tension also with regards to France. But it remains a fact that there is very strong pressure to sell Italian bonds; and that the road for Italy, in an unpolished Europe without a common governance where Germany and France protect first of all their own interest, is still uphill.
Yesterday President Napolitano spoke of a "very delicate and crucial crisis". It is a snapshot that captures this moment of transition that foreshadows the formation of the government headed by Mario Monti and the drafting of a program that will be presented to Parliament to obtain the vote of confidence. We are stuck at a crossroads, with always open markets; if all the players on the field, starting from the civil community that has to face reality for what it is, do not assume clear responsibility there is no "Monti effect" that can replace a shortfall of political and social cohesion and a decision-making stalemate.

Monti is the first to know this; yesterday he confirmed both the length, which for him is non-negotiable, of his commitment (until the end of the legislature, in 2013), and he avoided to "dramatize" the problem of having politicians entering first-hand into the government that is being created, which will in any case be "convincing and effective". It is obvious, however, that the nominated prime minister considers the support from political parties just as necessary and non-negotiable from the moment that Italians are being asked to make sacrifices.
Politics, which constantly claims its supremacy over the resounding daily market response, has a fundamental role to fix the contrasts and to give a reactive shake for the future. If we are in tight spot it is because politics did not know how to do its job, starting from the government and the ruling coalition that in 2008 took over the reins of the Country.
It is striking that in this special phase there is a strong temptation to hide in the shadow of a "step back", while waiting for better times and leaving to a technical government, alone in the middle of the debris, the burden of a reformist readjustment that is without precedent both in terms of quantity and, more importantly, in terms of quality, since it has to re-design the profile and the perimeter of the State.

And, as if initiatives like the re-opening of a Parliament in Padania were not enough as well as the preemptive cross-vetoes on this and that name that pop up as a possible minister, instead of discussing "what to do" (on which there are visible differences, like those on the tax and pension reform) what is being discussed is the length of the mandate to give the Monti Government. As if Italian politics owned the clock of the European crisis and almost as if it did not realize that some 890 billion worth of debt (47% of the total, 1900 billion) is held abroad and that European banks owns 300 billion worth of bonds expiring in 2012. Lastly, at these levels of yields, it would be enough for the political system to assess the condition of a substantial halt in credit that banks and businesses have to face to convince itself of the emergency situation that Italy is in.
It may seem repetitive, but "creating quickly and well" the government, with convinced support from politics, is the only possible option left. Instead, let's leave behind once and for the tricks and small ruses of one day (and one vote).

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