Bonelli to La Russa and Fontana: “Find a solution for absentees”

Too many are absent in Parliament, starting with the deputy Antonio Angelucci, a member of the League after several legislatures in Forza Italia and Popolo della Libertà. So the green Angelo Bonelli takes pen and paper and writes to the presidents of the Chamber and Senate.

“I address you and, through you, all the parliamentary groups, to raise an issue of fundamental importance which concerns the democratic life of our country: parliamentary absenteeism”, he writes in an open letter addressed to Ignazio La Russa e Lorenzo Fontanaspokesperson for Green Europe and member of the Chamber of the Greens and Left Alliance.

“I believe it is useful and necessary for the Italian Parliament to address the issue of the absenteeism of its members – continues Bonelli –. It is my opinion that, with the exception of cases in which parliamentarians are engaged in government roles, absent for health reasons, in official mission, whether they are senators for life or figures with specific political leadership roles, a maximum limit of absences must be established. Once this limit is exceeded – he observes -, the parliamentary mandate should be forfeited for those who do not actively participate to parliamentary activity for a long period of time”.

“The responsibility of representing citizens in Parliament – ​​continues the ecologist – is an honor and a duty that cannot be neglected. How can a parliamentarian, elected by the population to represent it, continue to fulfill his role if he does not fulfill this fundamental function? I would like to bring to your attention some emblematic cases that illustrate the seriousness of the phenomenon: the Honorable Antonio Angelucci, who during the XVII legislature recorded only 0.38% of attendance, in the XVIII legislature only 3.14% of attendance attendance, and in the XIX legislature, currently underway, only 0.19% attendance. Another significant case is that of the Honorable Marta Fascina, who in the current legislature has accumulated 93.5% absences”.

“It is therefore urgent that the political parties, which proposed and supported the election of these representatives, intervene”, concludes Bonelli.