Gianfranco Rotondi

thumb|Gianfranco Rotondi Gianfranco Rotondi (born 25 July 1960) is an Italian politician. A member of the Italian Parliament since 1994, he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 1996, from 2001 to 2006, and since 2008, as well as a member of the Senate of the Republic from 2006 to 2008. He was also a Minister without Portfolio for the Implementation of the Government Program in the fourth Berlusconi government from 2008 to 2011. Quotes They decimated the Christian Democrats and the Italian Socialist Party, and then the 'red robes' tried their luck with Berlusconi but failed. That's why we need to punish one to teach a hundred: if a few prosecutors who engage in militant politics were dismissed, it would serve as a lesson to the others. Quoted in Amedeo La Mattina, Colpire un pm per educarne altri cento, La Stampa, 21 July 2008. I am convinced that judges need to be given more resources and more money, including higher salaries, if that helps speed up trials. [...] I'll tell you about something that happened to me when I was having dinner with some friends in Florence. At a nearby table, there was a small group: they were judges. A successful candidate from a competitive exam arrived, and his colleagues welcomed him with applause. A beautiful colleague in her forties stood up and said to him, 'Always remember the lesson of our teacher, who told us: one day, the left will sell its soul, and on that day, we judges will be the only opposition left.' I intervened with a rather rude response, which led to a minor verbal altercation that I ended in true Christian Democrat style by paying for everyone's dinner. Quoted in Amedeo La Mattina, Colpire un pm per educarne altri cento, La Stampa, 21 July 2008. Tomorrow, I won't be going to the Council of Ministers; for me, a long holiday is beginning. I am disappointed, but I will remain silent so as not to disrupt the election campaign of the party, which I helped found and in which I was not allowed to nominate a single candidate. Of course, I will support the PdL and give my preference to Silvio Berlusconi, but only as my best man. Quoted in Governo/ Rotondi: Sono deluso, domani non sarò in Consiglio dei Ministri, Blitzquotidiano.it, 29 April 2009. The Lega Nord wants to go to the polls, but if it cares about federalism , it should be prepared for the legislative term to end. Revolutionaries need to be patient and also a bit Dorothean. Quoted in Rotondi: «La Lega sia più dorotea», ilpost.it, 30 September 2010. Even if the government were to end tomorrow, I would still consider it a great honour to have worked with an honest, upright man with deep moral values: Silvio Berlusconi. Quoted in Gianfranco Rotondi: «Un uomo onesto, pulito e carico di profondi valori morali: questo è Silvio Berlusconi», il Post, 30 October 2010. I am offended by the criticisms made by Caparezza in his latest single [Goodbye Malinconia]; they are criticisms that Italy and Milan do not deserve. [...] It saddens me that an Italian would get involved in an operation against his own country. To attack Milan as a symbol of a degraded Italy is to denigrate one of the symbols of a country that is working hard despite the difficult times it is going through. From the TV programme KlausCondicio, quoted in Musica: Rotondi, in un paese normale Caparezza non venderebbe dischi, Irispress.it, 23 February 2011. (About Caparezza) Interviewer: Is it acceptable to smear your own country to sell records? Rotondi: In a normal country, he wouldn't sell any records. From the TV programme KlausCondicio, quoted in Musica: Rotondi, in un paese normale Caparezza non venderebbe dischi, Irispress.it, 23 February 2011. Do you think MPs are swimming in money? I know colleagues who are considering whether they can stay in Rome for one more day. They're forced to count every penny. €8,000 in allowance plus €4,000 for a bag carrier. That makes twelve thousand. Oh well. If someone sets up an office for you in Rome, you have to pay them. And you have to give them a contract, however basic it may be. You have to pay someone else to open the office in your home city. Then there's a third person who might follow you around. Two thousand euros to stay in Rome. And then you've got to eat: that's another two thousand euros gone. That leaves four thousand for the family. I've always spent my holidays at Lido Miramare in Pineto degli Abruzzi. My parents' holiday home. No luxuries, no fancy dinners, no expensive clothes. In the good old days, I would also save half of what I earned. Then came getting engaged, getting married, having children, and so on and so forth. Quoted in Antonella Caporale, Si campa facendo i conti della serva per la famiglia restano 4 mila euro, la Repubblica, 29 June 2011. Let's keep those thousand MPs on our side. We can't give them a pay rise (and here, you can almost hear the minister's voice quiver with regret), but at least let's keep them happy, reassure them, and not p*ss them off if we want to make it to the end of the parliamentary term. And in the meantime, let's try to make people forget about us. Quoted in Massimo Gramellini, La Casta s'è desta, Lastampa.it, 29 June 2011. [Silvio] Berlusconi, a womanising saint, but he will go down in history as a statesman. Quoted in Fate l'alcol test a Rotondi, L'Espresso, 6 September 2013. As Italian men, we all think we're the best entrepreneurs, the best team leaders, the best politicians, and also great lovers. Well, Berlusconi did all those things well. Berlusconi's achievements may be debatable, but when it comes to the bedroom, there's no doubt about it. As Cossiga put it: 'The only successes or failures that cannot be hidden are those in the bedroom.' Quoted in Fate l'alcol test a Rotondi, L'Espresso, 6 September 2013. I confirmed my candidacy for prime minister in the next general election to Klauscondicio. I'm ready to challenge Renzi, and I've already let Berlusconi know. Quoted in Fate l'alcol test a Rotondi, L'Espresso, 6 September 2013. I certainly count as one of the poor, because even though the Corriere della Sera describes us as a caste, we MPs are among the least well-off Italians. I'm definitely not a wealthy person; we MPs are middle-class. 7 Quoted in Fate l'alcol test a Rotondi, L'Espresso, 6 September 2013. Silvio [Berlusconi] is like Christ: he too was the victim of a verdict. Quoted in Fate l'alcol test a Rotondi, L'Espresso, 6 September 2013. Don Sturzo, quoted by Matteo Salvini, is like the Pope receiving Rocco Siffredi... From a twitter, 1 March 2015; quoted in Lega: Rotondi, Salvini cita Sturzo come Papa riceve Siffredi..., IlTempo.it, 2 March 2015. External links Rotondi, Gianfranco Category:1960 births Category:Living people Category:Politicians from Italy Category:Government ministers