Sala at the Ambrogini d’Oro Awards: ‘Examples against social abstentionism’

Milan, 7 December (LaPresse) – We are living in difficult and very uncertain times, days in which a sense of resignation and disengagement seems to prevail at all levels, leading to a real detachment from reality, its problems and the commitment to try to solve them. In politics, a clear sign of this crisis is voter abstention, a trend that appears unstoppable and deeply undermines the meaning of the representativeness of elected bodies at all levels.” These were the words of Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala as he opened the ceremony for the presentation of the Civic Merits of the Municipality of Milan, the “Ambrogini d’Oro”, at the Teatro Dal Verme. “What we are witnessing,” added Sala, “is abstention not only from voting but from social life as a whole. How can we start again? Everyone needs to return to an awareness of their role, so that no one abstains from doing their duty. There is no need for ‘benaltrismo” (the tendency to blame others) or systematic buck-passing; instead, we need a full understanding of our role, starting with us politicians. We desperately need to recover a sense of community in which participation once again becomes the driving force of our lives, and we greatly need examples, men and women who can show the way to those who administer the city.”