Posted on 05/14/2005 9:55:12 AM PDT by Lessismore
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition is gradually crumbling as each local election result deals it a further blow. It now seems unlikely that Italian voters will grant Berlusconi another mandate in the May 2006 general elections, even if his government were to reach them without being toppled.
Berlusconi's coalition, the Casa delle Liberta (house of liberties), suffered another defeat in the latest local elections. Results from the May 8-9 vote showed support for Berlusconi had decreased drastically on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where the media tycoon owns several lavish villas. The coalition also was defeated in mayoral ballots in the far northern regions of Trentino and Valle d'Aosta. These losses added to the embarrassing defeat in the April 3-4 local elections, when Berlusconi's coalition lost all but two of the 13 regions up for grabs.
After the April elections, despite complaints from his allies and opposition, Berlusconi resigned and reshuffled his Cabinet in a tactical bid to strengthen his fractious coalition. The reshuffle came under fire immediately for being practically a photocopy of the previous executive.
Berlusconi's government, the longest lasting in the history of the Italian republic, has suffered from a sluggish economy and from its own mistakes--a high dose of arrogant favoritism for its members, the unpopular deployment of Italian troops to Iraq and undue concessions to the small, but demanding, separatist Northern League Party, which demands more autonomy for the rich northern Italian regions.
Inflation coupled with recession has produced a sharp decrease in the purchasing power of Italians, especially those in the middle class. Their discontent has been magnified by the national statistics institute's inflation estimates, which amount to about half the inflation seen by private institutes and consumer associations.
Laws aimed at boosting the prime minister's private business and sheltering him from judgment in court proceedings also have sparked criticism of Berlusconi's center-right coalition. The la Repubblica daily has asserted that since his triumphant entry into politics in 1994, Berlusconi's assets have tripled in value. Several laws passed by the governing majority, including a fiscal pardon, have allowed Berlusconi's Fininvest company to save paying hundreds of millions of euros in taxes.
In addition, regulations clearly aimed at sheltering Berlusconi and his partners from trial have tarnished his reputation, making him unpopular with voters. Such regulations include the curbing of punishment for crimes such as fraudulent accounting, shortening the statute of limitations and weakening the judicial power of magistrates, whom Berlusconi has tagged "communist red robes."
Berlusconi's decision to deploy about 3,000 Italian troops in Iraq also was a political blunder, considering the moderate level of Italian economic interest in Iraq and the highly unfavorable public opinion at home.
Last, undue concessions to the small Northern League, which caused the fall of Berlusconi's 1994 government, have cooled enthusiasm for the center-right coalition in the poorer and less developed southern part of the peninsula. The Northern League hinted they might withdraw their support for the government if federalist reform of the Constitution is not approved, thus causing a clash between members of the coalition--Berlusconi's Forza Italia Party, the nationalist, formerly fascist Alleanza Nazionale Party and the Christian-Democrat UDC Party.
The April defeat caused turmoil within the coalition, so much so that both Alleanza Nazionale and UDC demanded a complete turnaround in policy. However, once again, the Northern League's threat to leave the coalition prevented Berlusconi from making such a change.
It seems highly unlikely that Berlusconi will run in the upcoming May 2006 elections with the same team and political structure in place now. He has hinted he might prefer to succeed Carlo Azeglio Ciampi as president and find a less compromised figure for the post of prime minister.
Even then, Ciampi's mandate expires after the May 2006 elections and his successor will be elected by a new parliament, which will probably be dominated by Romano Prodi's center-left coalition.
I thought the same when I saw Sevchenko place his penalty-kick squarely in the Liverpool keeper's chest.
Forza Roma.
Alex.
I was sorry about the game,
but any team that's 3 up has to defend itself much better than that (although the Liverpool goaly's behavior is questionable)
Alex.
It was an entertaining game, I had fun watching it . . . even the regulars in the bar became interested in the end (unheard of in Chicago).
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