«It’s not an epoch-making law, but it is an excellent one». That is the assessment of Manuel Ciavatta (PDCS) on the bill dedicated to family and birth rates, discussed and approved by the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale). The Christian Democratic Party (PDCS) confirmed its favourable vote, while acknowledging that important issues remain open, starting with housing.
Ciavatta placed particular emphasis on the dialogue between majority, opposition, trade unions, employers’ associations and other stakeholders across the country that accompanied the drafting of the law. According to the PDCS, the measure increases financial support but also addresses the time available to families, the balance between work and parenting, and assistance for the most vulnerable members of society.
Special thanks were extended to the women of both the majority and the opposition who took part in the discussions, bringing to the law, according to Ciavatta, their own life experience and contributing especially on the themes of motherhood, parenting and care.
The councillor also interpreted the opposition’s choice to abstain rather than vote against the bill as a recognition of the overall value of the reform. Recalling the historic battles fought by the DC’s women’s movement, Ciavatta pointed to the introduction of the caregiver figure and the strengthening of family support tools as a further step forward.
Below is the full statement.
Manuel Ciavatta (PDCS): «This is a law that has seen a very significant dialogue, both among political forces — first within the majority and then with the opposition — and with trade unions and employers’ associations, and indeed with all the stakeholders in our country who were calling for an even more effective response to the problem of declining birth rates. It is not an epoch-making law, but I agree with Councillor Zanotti: it is an excellent law. It does not answer all the questions that remain open, such as housing, but it provides considerably more support, both financially and in terms of time — whether to experience parenthood, to balance work and family life, or to care for the most vulnerable people. I won’t go back over all the specific measures, which have already been discussed at length both during the debate and during the examination of the articles. Instead, allow me to extend heartfelt thanks to the Secretariat of State and to Secretary Canti for the work they have done. Thanks also to the majority political forces for the work truly carried out together, and among them, allow me to thank the women of my party, the councillors, the women from the majority political forces and also from the opposition, who brought their own life experience into this law. I believe it is precisely this that enriched even further those aspects to which, out of sensitivity, they contributed, and I think this is what gave additional quality to this bill, especially regarding motherhood, parenting, and also caregiving. I wanted to extend this thanks in a particular way. We also welcome the criticism from the opposition, because rightly, one can always do better, but evidently, if the opposition forces chose not to vote against it, it means they appreciated this bill. We believe this too is an important and valuable element. Allow me, since I am making this declaration of vote on behalf of my party, to also recall that, following the historic battles of the DC’s women’s movement that led to parental leave and various other legislative innovations in favour of families, this bill introduces the caregiver figure and strengthens further tools. I believe this is another point of merit which, at the very least, we can only be pleased about. We therefore clearly confirm our group’s favourable vote on this law, and we thank once again everyone who worked to achieve this result».
