Italian youth enjoying a street party in Rome on Sunday (September 29) said they have had enough of their politicians and hold them responsible for destroying their chance of achieving their dreams and aspirations. The group of young people ranging from 18 to 30 years o age were reacting a day after former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi pulled his ministers out of the coalition government and called for new elections, sparking a government crisis. Berlusconi, the centre-right leader who was forced from office in November 2011 at the height of the euro zone debt crisis and faces a ban from parliament for tax fraud, has already launched his election campaign. Many of the students say they could not respect Berlusconi as a politician but they did not hold him entirely responsible for the collapse of the country's political infrastructure. "He is not guilty, I mean, he personally, is not the one to be blamed" said university student Gaia Tascioni. "In my opinion he is the tip of the iceberg of a stalled society, governed by elderly people" she said. "..... he is guilty of other things, I do think he is a criminal, obviously, but we can't put all the blame just on him for all of this, surely a great part of it is his fault but also all the people who continue supporting him are also to be held responsible" Tascioni said. The current political paralysis resulting from the government's collapse will delay much needed reforms even further in the euro zone's third largest but most sluggish economy. Italy's youth unemployment now stands at just over 40 percent - which means roughly 1-in-3 youths is unemployed. Things don't look as though they will be getting any better any time soon, particularly with another government crisis in full swing. Ahmed Barkhia is an Italian citizen of Egyptian origin. His family had hoped living in Italy would give him stability for his future. Now that seems to be slipping away. "Obviously what the Italian politics have been able to offer me in this territory, in this country, in our beautiful country, has not been optimal, rather, our politicians, who are really a great number here in Italy, have really managed to destroy the Italian brains" Barkhia said. "I don't think Italian politics are helping anyone or rather, the politicians are only helping themselves" he said. Gaia Cottina is an unemployed anthropology graduate who says in the current economic crisis, attention is only being given to highly technical trades and training and cultural elements of learning and job opportunities are being ignored. "I think there is very little attention paid to this, in the sense that even the few political initiatives to help youth, to get more young people employed, what they don't take into account is that there is a vast number of young people whose skills fit the cultural field, there is very little talk about culture and culture is the basis of a country" Cottina said. "We don't just need engineers or people who have very specific skills or scientists, we need culture in this country. That is what many of us studied for, we are ready and extremely well prepared to do that. I am convinced that there is serious oversight on behalf of this government which is very disappointing" she said. Many of the young people said they were thinking of leaving Italy. And not just those looking for work. "The future of Italy..no, I must tell you that within the next year I will make up my mind over what to do, whether to stay or to go because certain conditions here are unacceptable for those who have studied and made sacrifices and who wants a future on merit of all those sacrifices" said Cristina Gaetani, a university graduate working in an accountancy firm. "I don't hold much confidence, I'm without confidence for what Italy has to offer. I have much more confidence in what is on offer outside of Italy, I think there are more opportunities abroad" Gaia Tascioni said. "Well, I certainly don't think the prospects are that rosy here right now. I would really like to stay here but I am also considering, seriously, to leave the country, to go to Paris or even cross the ocean if I had enough money to do it because I am discouraged by everything I am hearing and at the same time I don't have the strength to react, not so much because I don't have the possibilities to do so but it's almost like I don't even want to start looking for the solutions here" said despondent student Silvana Tamma. Hopes of prime minister Enrico Letta or another figure being able to govern in the present parliament may depend on there being sufficient numbers of rebel lawmakers from Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party, which he recently re-named Forza Italia (Go Italy!). One thing that everyone is hoping for: that President Giorgio Napolitano hasn't given up on the future of Italy and will be able to guide the politicians to a workable solution.

• published: 03 Oct 2013
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