La Russa tells Milan students the people wanted fascism, prompting outcry

The remarks to students

On 13 November, Senate President Ignazio La Russa addressed high school students in the council chamber of Palazzo Marino in Milan, during the 17th edition of the initiative 'Giovani di sana e robusta Costituzione'. He argued that the will of the people can be imperfect, and that it was the people who wanted fascism rather than the fascist revolution. When Maria Daniela Poli, a female professor of comparative public law at Università Cattolica, pointed out that the March on Rome had taken place, La Russa replied that the march had later been sanctified by the people. He added that the people had made a mistake, but that the only remedy was to trust the popular will, which he called the highest value of democracy.

“There was the March on Rome, later sanctified by the people.”

He maintained that the popular will has to be accepted, and that history, not the present moment, would decide whether a given choice was right or wrong.

Barabbas and the Zagrebelsky critique

La Russa criticised constitutional scholar Gustavo Zagrebelsky, saying that questioning the people's ability to choose, and calling the people wrong only when that suits, is a clamorous error. To make the point, he cited the biblical episode of Barabbas and Jesus. In his telling, had the people not chosen Barabbas, Jesus would not have been crucified and Christianity would not exist, so divine will had inspired the people's choice. He then stressed that the popular will must be trusted even when its outcome is later judged wrong.

“Those who set themselves up as judges of the popular will are the most anti-democratic there is.”

He rejected the idea that people could judge decisions right when they like them and wrong when they do not.

Interview with il Giornale

On 14 November, il Giornale published an interview in which La Russa rejected the charge that he had rehabilitated fascism. He said he had spoken about the popular vote rather than about fascism, and that he had added, with the word 'sbagliando' (by making a mistake), that the people had wanted fascism while getting it wrong. He argued that elections took place in 1924 and were won by Mussolini and his bloc, and that whether or not there was fraud, they were legitimate. He compared this with Silvio Berlusconi, who in 2006 suggested fraud in Prodi's victory but still accepted the result. Asked about fraud, he also cited Donald Trump's claim that fraud decided the midterm elections, noting that Democrats now hold majorities in the House and Senate.

Reaction and the constitution

According to il Giornale, the left took to the barricades, arguing that La Russa was again rehabilitating fascism. In the Milan session, he said Italians 'speak badly of everything' yet resist change when it is needed, and he criticised what he called an at times excessive rigidity in the constitution's referendum section. He said the first 12 articles could technically be amended, though nobody wanted to change them morally, and that he would give his life for them. He also described the constitution's compromise section as reflecting a forced deal between camps that once looked to communist Russia and to the West. He maintained that his words concerned the popular vote, not fascism.