euro|topics - Berlusconi is back at Italy's helm

Main focus of Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Berlusconi is back at Italy's helm

The Italian right, led by Silvio Berlusconi, won the legislative elections of April 13 and 14. His coalition won a majority in the House and Senate. At the age of 71, Berlusconi will serve his third term as the head of the Italian government. The European press evaluates the consequences of his return on the political and economic life of the country.

Le Soir - Belgium

Pascal Martin inquires into Berlusconi's political longevity. "A man who is so unattached to the good of the state, so quick to tend to his personal interests, has succeeded in convincing the largest number of electors. Why? Silvio Berlusconi is a populist and populists don't do well in power. But there is nothing 'Il Cavaliere' seems incapable of achieving. Maybe because he and his electorate are 100 miles from the idea of what we do here with the state and those in its service. A large proportion of Italians simply don't believe. In a society where individualism is king, Silvio Berlusconi incarnates the 'sly': he who can, better than anyone else, manage to wriggle out of the affair. Or the affairs. Capable of marking political points, he is above all else, the genius of communication. In Italy, where communication is consumed without moderation, he gets people drunk like so much alcohol." (15/04/2008)

Spiegel Online - Germany

According to Michael Braun, Berlusconi's return to power was on the cards back in April 2006, when he lost the elections to Romano Prodi. "Romano Prodi did the rest of the work with his coalition. With its 13 or so ruling parties, the centre-left troop conveyed a pathetic impression - so people on the right soon forgot that during his five years in power Berlusconi did nothing to address the structural problems of a country whose economy has been stagnating for years. Prodi was the fiscal Dracula who raised taxes to get the budget back on course and fulfil the EU stability criteria. Berlusconi on the other hand - well, wasn't he the one who issued one tax amnesty after another during his term in office? ... For the first time - and this is a revolution by Italian standards - only four factions will sit in the country's parliament. So the times when 23 to 30 parties defined Rome's politics have come to an end." (15/04/2008)

Le Courrier - Switzerland

"Seen from abroad, the choice seems incomprehensible," writes Olivier Chavaz. "Berlusconi is a man of the past. His two stints in power brought absolutely nothing to the country. On the contrary, they contributed to driving the economic crisis a bit further in and in discrediting Italy on the international scene after so many bungles and ineptitudes. ... Today, Italian politics is on the road to 'Americanisation.' This evolution is deliberate. The right and the centre-left have together decided to end the rainbow coalitions as the sources of fragility. But neither of the poles has a real project. What good then comes from consenting to a bipartisan system that is nothing more than a concentration of power?" (15/04/2008)

Rzeczpospolita - Poland

Piotr Kowalczuk is delighted that Italy appears to be on the way to becoming a two-party system. "The costs of politics are the highest in Europe, because the permanent crisis has been prolonged for fourteen years now by the same arrogant and corrupt political caste that can only agree when it comes to fixing its own stately salaries. ... If the Italian state wants to find its way out of the crisis it must subject itself to a painful major overhaul. State structures must be strengthened and the costs of politics reduced. The creation of two moderate and significant blocks provides a unique chance to remove the extremists that have specialised in political blackmail from the parliament. There is also the chance that after the next elections a two-party system will emerge in Italy." (15/04/2008)

La Repubblica - Italy

Umberto Bossi's North League made a spectacular advance in the Italian elections and will be a key partner for the new government. Journalist Gad Lerner reflects on this separatist and Europhobic victory. "The League's proletariat will celebrate 2008 as the year during which it definitively evicted the left from the world it was born in 150 years ago: the industrial north, its plains and valleys. Bossi has succeeded in conserving, even though he is sick and out of the media's attention, a mythical aura as founder of his people... . The League, doubling its support in Lombardy and Veneto, is the only party that develops around the theme of defending a territory. A territory famous for its unity, but also which needs protection when tentacles of globalisation threaten." (15/04/2008)

Der Standard - Austria

Christoph Prantner fears there won't be any changes for the better in Italy: "According to the OECD, Italy's economy will barely grow at all this year, the country's share in world trade has dwindled, its productivity has declined and wages are stagnating. Many Italians are so poor they can no longer even afford to eat pasta every day. A precarious generation of young has grown up that doesn't want to start families because they fear they won't be able to support them. Berlusconi grew up and made his mark in this sclerotic system. Even the most hopeless optimists don't believe that of all people this man, who after all contributed considerably to creating many of the problems, will be able to solve them." (15/04/2008)

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Bookmark this page at