The “red” Bologna, a gold medal city for the Resistance, was recently the scene of a Casapound demonstration, authorized by the government, which the Bolognese left, represented by the secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein and the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore, considers a serious disfigurement.

“Bologna does not deserve the disgrace of a fascist demonstration. We stopped them once and we will stop them again”, thundered the Pd secretary, a native of Lugano but Bolognese by adoption, while protesting in the square alongside the ANPI against the march Casapound. Mayor Lepore instead accused the government of having allowed “300 black shirts” to enter the city. The Democratic Party considers it an insult that Casapound demonstrated near the station Bologna, site of the tragic attack of 2 August 1980. Although Casapound was born in the 1990s and only made official in 2003, the parallel with the attack remains questionable for many, as would prohibiting far-left groups from demonstrating in symbolic places of the ‘Moro case’ in Rome.

While political forces debate responsibility for what happened, few seem to question the root problem. Some observers maintain that the issue is also linked to internal divisions on the left. Since the outbreak of the war in Palestine, far-left collectives have demonstrated frequently to criticize Netanyahu, Giorgia Meloni and the government: completely legitimate protests. However, a month ago, some pro-Palestine protesters defied the Interior Ministry’s ban on the anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel, provoking clashes with the police forces, as happened in Bologna a few days ago. In both cases, no voice of condemnation was raised from the Italian centre-left.

Where have gone the voices of the left who are outraged by similar acts, as in the case of the mannequin depicting Giorgia Meloni burned in the square? And what do they say in front of the posters showing the prime minister and minister Anna Maria Bernini with blood on their faces? From Schlein there was no statement of condemnation, nor solidarity towards the officers injured by the antagonists of the social centers during the protest in Bologna against Casapound. The secretary of the Democratic Party limited herself to reiterating that the neo-fascist organizations must be dissolved, recognizing that “it should have been done for some time…”.

Until Casapound is dissolved, it still has the right to demonstrate in any Italian city, including the “red” Bologna. The Democratic Party, which from 2011 to 2022 (except for the period of the yellow-green government) was the governing force, continues to criticize the center-right for shortcomings which, according to some, are internal to its own political history. From the Bossi-Fini law on immigration to conflicts of interest, the Democratic Party often asks the center-right for changes to laws for which it had even voted in the past.

Returning to the main question, according to the Scelba law, a fascist-inspired party can only be dissolved by judicial sentence or government decree, as long as it incites racial hatred or the suppression of constitutional freedoms. Neither the PD governments (Renzi, Letta, Gentiloni) nor the technical governments (Monti, Draghi) have ever made a decision in this sense, which suggests that, even on the left, there are divergent assessments on the Casa Pound issue.

For a few years, Casapound even established itself as a party, participating in the political elections of 2013 and 2018. Until a few years ago, in fact, it was fully legitimate for Casa Pound to take to the streets to campaign and that its representatives aspired to enter institutions. In the past, it could even be useful for the left to have a far-right party, hoping that it would steal votes from the center-right. Casapound, however, has always obtained very low electoral percentages. Although Casapound’s political positions are questionable for many, the movement has the right to exist until its dissolution is established.