“Immigrants? Immigration? It is better not to talk about it”. This would seem to be the electoral slogan which in a few days we will see written on posters and plastered on the walls of our cities. A deafening and bipartisan silence which has (for now) starved even the same old Calderoli and his friends in the Northern League, except for a few short statements which reiterated the no to illegal immigrants. In the halls of the parties everybody knows, but nothing is said, that the topic of immigration and immigrants results in a loss of votes. In brief, it is better not to talk about it, also because the overwhelming majority of them still do not have the right to vote.

A negative tendency which in fact results in the marginalisation of not only immigration, but also leaders of immigration, who have all too often served as a “coloured” background to the great political kermes. As far as the make up of the centre-left is concerned, there is a multiculturalist approach, which relegated immigrants who took an active role in politics and in society to a dimension of solidarity on a par with third-world status, nothing more. And already in the previous political elections the Democratic party of the Left sacrificed the movement of the “Brothers of Italy”, lead by the Italo-Senegalese Aly Baba Faye. In doing so they renounced his candidature for an acceptable position and did not listen to the appeal of hundreds of “new Italians” enrolled in the party which at the time was a symbol of Italian reformism.

Someone will object saying that the wind has changed and that the new Democratic Party lead by Walter Veltroni has turned a new leaf. This is not the case. On the PD lists there is not even one surname which is slightly exotic and, worse still, the only outgoing MP of Arab origin from the ex Ulivo group, Khaled Fouad Allam, has not been nominated for candidature. On the other hand, the PDL has nominated the leader of the Moroccan Women Souad Sbai to the Chamber and the Northern League has nominated Zakaria Najib to the Senate. Two candidates known for their controversial and critical political proposals towards the world of immigration and the Islamic community especially, proposing more radical measures to fight clandestinity, without however making the most of the invisible world of immigration which works and produces.

The turning point of the alliance of the centre-right and right-right should not be read as a mere exploitation of a group of “good immigrants” who have it in for their peers. It should be read rather as a realisation and a full political awareness, on the part of the leaders of National Alliance and the Northern League, of the enormous potential which immigration has to offer, not only in terms of future votes, but also as far as the importance of immigration, which has quickly become one of the critical points on the agenda on a national and European level. It is a pragmatic and Realpolitik vision which is also recognised by the conservative alliance beyond the Alps. The French President Sarkozy had promised and carried out a series of actions intended to make the most of the presence of French of foreign origin in its institutions, such as the appointment of Rachida Dati, a lawyer of Moroccan origins, as justice minister.

And so why is it that despite the experience of the party’s leader Veltroni in favour of dialogue between cultures and the appointment by the mayor of Rome of the African journalist Jean Leonard Touadi as security councillor, the party which “Can do” has not included on its lists members of the world of immigration? Is it only the fault of a type of mentality which permeates the Centre-Left, or is it that leaders of foreign origin, who should step forward? An initial answer is the need for a real cultural revolution, where the dimension of active citizenship and of participation has to become the watchword. And the immigrants’ essential need to hold a position of responsibility in favour of collectivity should be made real and should be translated into solid actions.

There is certainly still a lot that has to be done, and the disillusion of many supporters of foreign origin is evident and shared by some members of the PD. It will be interesting to see which paths the two alliances will take after the elections, in terms of the responsibility of the “new Italians”. And especially if those of foreign origin in the PDL are elected, whether they will be hostage to anti-immigrant slogans, or whether it will represent the instances of all the immigrants irrespective of their political leanings.

Khalid Chaouki, journalist, is a member of the Italian Islamic Consult and is a candidate with the “Moderati per Roma con Rutelli" list for the municipals in Rome in 2008.

Translation by Sonia Ter Hovanessian