January 17, 2008 (LPAC)--The resignation of Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, in the context of several emergencies of political and social-economic nature, has pushed the Italian government closer to a crisis. Such a crisis would be welcomed by pro-British factions, typified by those which have been disturbed by recent revelations of British machinations against Italy in 1976. Mastella resigned yesterday after his wife, who is also an elected official, was arrested together with 23 party officials in the Campania region - de facto the whole party, UDEUR, of which Mastella is the national leader. Mrs. Sandra Mastella, chairman of the regional council, is accused of having pressured governor Bassolino for a political trade-off. The news of the arrest was leaked just before Mastella was going to present the yearly review of his ministry in the Parliament, a coincidence aimed at having maximum media impact, according to many.

Clemente Mastella is now rumored to be abandoning the government coalition. If that occurs, Prodi will be left without a majority and must resign. Additional pressure to do so has been added by the announcement yesterday by the Constitutional Court, that signatures filed for a national referendum on a new electoral law are legitimate. The referendum is seen as a danger by small parties, including Mastella's UDEUR, who would be wiped out by the proposed solution and only the two largest parties could make it into the Parliament. If Parliament does not come out now with a better proposal, the only way to avoid the referendum is to dump the Prodi government and go for early elections.

The Mastella case intersects the garbage emergency that has hit the Campania region in the last weeks, which is still unsolved, and which has fed another wave of popular sentiment against the political class as a whole, in particular against elected officials in the Campania region and in Naples. In reality, the main responsibility for the thousands of tons of garbage piling up in the streets of Naples and other cities lies in the alliance between Green fascists and the Camorra, both tools of the oligarchy. On the one hand, they forced the closure of dumps by law, as "polluting"; on the other hand, they prevented the construction of incinerators. As a result, garbage from the region has been exported, including to Germany, to be burnt in incinerators at the cost of 215 Euros per ton.

On top of all this, another institutional crisis, involving the Rome University, broke out yesterday when the Pope's visit, planned for today, was cancelled by the Vatican as a result of the opposition of a radical minority of teachers and students, that led authorities to fear street violence.