• Matteo Renzi's tenth Leopolda. "It will be back to the origins. Count? Rating goes up but GDP goes down"

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by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea October 18, 2019Matteo Renzi opens Leopolda 10 in Florence and says from the stage: "We are alive. The most beautiful sign is Pomigliano: ' An alive Italy is there '. Luckily it had to be this year the flop Leopolda - Renzi ironizes in front of a very crowded room - thanks to all those who made propaganda so that nobody would come. For the first time we had to close the gates ".

The leader of Italia Viva then decides to pay homage to Raffaele Cantone : "Among the many people who have passed through this stage of the Leopolda in these ten years and I want to remember why he left a mark, I choose one, only one: in these weeks he has resigned a magistrate who for years worked with us, Raffaele Cantone, for years an international example in the fight against corruption. I am proud that it was my government that gave birth to the National Anti-Corruption Authority ". He then added: "A big applause from Leopolda for Raffaele Cantone when he leaves Anac, for those who really fight against corruption and do not make commercials, but do good politics".

Renzi then claims from the stage that there is no ' Yes man ' at the Leopolda: "Today we show that there is a people who is not afraid to say what they think and this people, friends of the press, talk shows, there is: you may like it or not but it is a people that is there ". "It is not true - adds Renzi - that we are surrounded by Yes man and Mr. Yes, here there are so many free people, who want to say what they believe and try to do politics because they can't do more than demagogy, populism , of the indifference that seems to prevail in this country ".

From Renzi comes then a clear denial to the VAT increase in order not to drop the economy: "Who does not want to increase VAT, does not want to bring down the economy: if we launch ideas, we cannot say that we launch ultimatum: For populism an idea is an ultimatum, but for those who believe in politics the idea is the substance of politics "adding that" journalism is an essential component of democracy. We always defend journalists, being on the side of journalists is a value: but you can't reach a level where the journalist replaces his political opponent ".

About the Government specifies that dropping it a month later is a schizophrenia: "I read of strange ideas: people who say 'Renzi wants to bring down the government': a month ago we started the Government, now if you drop it after a month they shelter you for schizophrenia, but this cannot mean that if one says not to increase VAT, it wants to bring down the Government, those who do not want to increase VAT do not want to bring down the economy, they do not want to bring into crisis a country that is already struggling ".

The leader of Italia Viva then says to fight with the mayor of Florence Nardella for the same values ​​even if in different parties: "The fact that we are not in the same party does not mean that we do not have the same values", Renzi said presenting Nardella he began his intervention. "For twenty days journalists have asked me if I go to the Leopolda: here there are no opponents, the adversaries go and look for them in Salvini's right-wing sovereign".

Solidarity with the Kurds
A long and vibrant applause from the participants welcomed the image of Nasrin Abdalla, Kurdish commander of the Women's Protection Unit, in video connection via Skype from Kobane where a truce is now in force. The fighter, visibly moved, raised two fingers as a sign of victory to greet the convention audience.

"Thank you very much for your incredible courage", Matteo Renzi told her from the stage. "There have been these days - said Abdalla - tens of thousands of refugees, and civilians killed and mutilated. Currently, precisely because the bombing continues, schools are used as a refuge for those forced to leave home".

Renzi appealed to the media: "Do not give attention to these women who are the pride of humanity, this girl has fought Islamic extremists and saved the West". The mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, who intervened subsequently, said that "as soon as this brutal war ends we will invite the mayor of Kobane back to Florence, and rebuild the schools of Kobane and Kurdistan".