Granting judicial powers, and therefore the ability to make arrests, to the military as well? Unthinkable . The Quirinale Palace is hushed in the hours since the government announced the creation of a new decree to tighten security regulations ( details of the measure are here ). But the President of the Republic certainly jumped out of his seat when he read the first rumors that spoke of transforming the military involved in the 'Safe Streets' operation into police officers . The image of soldiers deployed in the streets and squares to arrest citizens—be they looters, vandals, or protesters—many of whom were said to be minors, immediately seemed excessive and out of step with the standards of Western democracies .
The traditional discussions between the legal offices of the Quirinale and those of Palazzo Chigi were forced to proceed at a rapid pace this time: the government has never hidden the urgency of an immediate response to the events in Milan, and this response took the form of a decree.
A measure that—Mattarella was very clear—the president would not have signed if the government had included in the measure the idea of granting judicial police powers to the military.
Furthermore, this is yet another security measure - from the very first one on raves to those more aimed at public order - through which a series of new crimes are being created that certainly do not reassure the Quirinale and give the impression of a continuing emergency .
But the green light will come after the military provision, which the president considered an insurmountable obstacle, has been defused. The issue was likely resolved a few hours before the Council of Ministers meeting, when the traditional liaison between the President and the government, the Undersecretary of the Prime Minister's Office, arrived at the Quirinale Palace. Alfredo Mantovano, in fact, went to Mattarella for a long-scheduled hearing with the Special Commissioner for Prison Construction, Marco Doglio. It was most likely an opportunity to address the issue of the new decree and, above all, to make it clear to the government that if the military provision hadn't been removed, the decree wouldn't have received the presidential signature. And so it was: shortly thereafter, the first rumors emerged, suggesting that, after a lengthy session of technical meetings at Palazzo Chigi, the controversial provision had been shelved by the right.
