I meet Emilio Martinenghi in one of the most beautiful locations in Ticino: Villa Principe Leopoldo. The day is hot, even if it rained in the morning. We have lunch together and we start chatting about holidays, family, read and unread books and then we stop to reflect on how life always brings us back there, in those places where we still have something to give, close to the people we still have something to say. .
We haven't seen each other in a while. You know I didn't think you were going back to politics? I was convinced it was a chapter, how to say, closed ...
“Me too (amused), but things have changed and honestly I am happy to have made this choice. You know when I was young it was different, there was a preordained system, so it was quite normal to fall into it, I'm talking about country politics where everyone knows each other and where you feel you are directly involved. I certainly also had ambitions at the cantonal level, unfortunately or fortunately I was part of that generation that did not easily find space in the political games of the time ».
How old were you?
“I was twenty-five and had just returned from my studies. I started like many and finally, time has flown by, I have been mayor of Cureglia for eight years. Honestly, taking up the question he asked me before, I was actually convinced that I would never get involved in politics again ».
But what happened? Did politics, anyone in particular, let you down?
«No disappointment, on the contrary ... my Municipality, all the citizens have been very close to me over the years, even in those that are not always easy. I had played for 28 years between the City Council and various functions and I thought it was time to leave room for those who came after me, for those who wanted to. I didn't want to be the one to say about things anymore. So for ten years I no longer thought about politics, of course I followed it, but never actively and never exposing my ideas in public. Then, almost unexpectedly, I got a phone call. They asked me if I was interested in making myself available for the presidency of the cantonal party. Since in life we keep saying that many things need to be improved, but concretely little is done, I found myself confronted with myself. I tell you the truth, it would have been much easier to kindly decline the invitation, but I would have betrayed a part of me. "
I guess it wasn't easy to get back into the game in a world, the political one, which has changed a lot in the last decade ...
"Like all challenges it was challenging, I can't deny it, but at the same time I learned a lot and got to know cantonal politics personally, also recognizing a certain detachment from the private world from which I come."
However in the end you remained the same in the party ...
“I told myself that if I didn't become president I would quit. But then they called me ».
Another phone call ... (we laugh)
“Yes, yes, that's how it went. He called me the current president of the Liberal Radical Party, Alessandro Speziale, asking me if I wanted to be part of the presidential office. The choice was not immediate, I had to think about it for a moment and reflect ... a month, let's face it, then I never accepted. I have always said yes for the same reason: I am from a generation that deeply loves our country, this place that gave us birth, growth and that gave us a lot, we feel it in our skin and you know it well, so to I am very interested that Ticino can move forward, grow, find that harmony that we have lost a bit today. Having a party is a starting point to carry out one's ideas, to realize one's projects ».
Do you think the era of big parties is over? That in the future there will be more and more individuals to take the vows?
“The person is increasingly rewarded with respect to the party to which they belong, but this does not mean that it is not necessary to have a solid structure, so parties will remain a foundation of our politics in the future as well. Furthermore, in my opinion, they represent an identity tool, as long as they know how to guarantee their authenticity, avoiding self-promotional resonances. Today, it must be said, the divisions are no longer polarized between left and right, the contrasts are thematic: environment, economy, city and countryside, even if unfortunately a certain ideology still prevails ».
But what if we reduce the number of parties?
“Everything could work, we could have even one party if we all wanted to go in the same direction. But go and tell the Ticino people, so tied to our beliefs (smiles) ».
You are fighting a lot for Ticino's economic growth ...
«To grow and consolidate the country's economic fabric and above all to be able to count on a socially strong state, we need to improve certain conditions. One is certainly the one that affects the taxation of individuals in Ticino. This is an aspect of politics, which must be clear and should be understood by everyone. We must have the courage to reduce taxes, even to the richest people. This means maintaining the progressivity of the tax burden, however, bringing it back to proportional levels on the average of the other confederate cantons. Today Ticino is in the last positions for the high taxpayers, it is instead on average as regards the middle class and very attractive for low incomes ».
But the reasoning that most voters do is: less tax revenue, less money available ...
«By reducing taxes, especially for those who pay conspicuously and preponderantly today, we are improving the conditions for attracting new and additional important taxpayers. On the contrary, the revenue will tend to increase and allow the state to carry out its tasks. In Ticino, 3% of individuals pay almost 40% of all taxes. This fact is enough to make us reflect on the need to reform the tax system ».
Indeed, it is enough for us to see the tax attractiveness of other cantons to understand it ...
“Of course, these cantons have understood that good taxpayers should not be let slip. The wealth of the individual benefits the community, creates economic inducements and, as I told you, creates a redistributive force in favor of the economically fragile segments. I hope that politics can show concreteness and avoid ideological conflicts ».
And on the outputs?
"Surely the government must optimize a certain current expenditure, but the state must not be afraid of the accounts, it must look beyond, relaunch investment projects even with a possible increase in public debt. We must have the courage to dare and do, which is why I struggle a little with a certain budget orthodoxy of public accounts. If we don't invest now, what will happen to our country in twenty years? I'll give you an example with the sports center and events in the city of Lugano. I am a firm believer in this investment. Losing this opportunity means staying still and discussing for another 10 or 20 years before having structures of interest to the whole community. It would be another missed opportunity. Sin".
Your thoughts turn a lot to young people ...
"Yes, it's true. We know how to take care of ourselves, our dear elderly people as well and I think so emotionally and not just materially. Instead, we need to do more to offer prospects for young people. Both in the field of work and training, and for those - and there are many - feel excluded from these paths. We can improve, also by changing some of our beliefs and thus promoting a more inclusive and less judgmental society ».
I feel you are passionate in your speeches and above all you believe in it, this is important. But do you still find time to paint?
«Always, I always paint».
Don't it happen to you that these two aspects of your personality, the creative and the pragmatic, collide?
«They are not two antithetical parts, on the contrary (pause), when I work I express myself as I express myself in painting, in an intuitive and spontaneous way, I try to be very honest with myself and with everything I do. When I paint a picture I am not looking for perfection, I look for that energy, that satisfaction that gives me pleasure, and the same thing I look for in my work, a result that I like and that satisfies me, that is positive, for the client and also for myself. Clearly, in my work, I rely more on my and my colleagues' preparation and on the experience gained ».
I imagine that to do everything you do you are always an early riser ...
"(Laughs) yes, but in the evening I go to bed early, even if sometimes I allow myself a social appointment, but getting up at dawn is a precious gift that I do not give up."
And what will you do in the next few years?
"Like every day I will let myself be surprised by what will come and like every day in the morning I thank someone for the new day".
Are you religious?
"In my way, yes (smiles)."
I thought a lot about the title of this interview because I wanted it to reveal a characteristic of Martinenghi, beyond politics and the profession. The will to change indicates his character trait, knowing how to get involved, listen to himself and above all believe that he can change, himself and the world, for the better.
