Berlusconi ‘the Ubiquitous’ Wins Again

ROME, 7 July 2004 — Silvio Berlusconi’s admiration for Napoleon is well documented. Italy’s Prime Minister collects miniature ceramic models of the French emperor and cartoonists often sketch him wearing Bonaparte’s bicorn hat and boots.

“I am the best in the world,” the proud tycoon-turned-politician once said. Those closest to him were hardly surprised, therefore, by his decision to name himself as Italy’s new economy minister following the ousting of Giulio Tremonti at a coalition showdown over the weekend.

After all, Berlusconi obviously likes wearing more than one hat. For much of 2002, for instance, he doubled up as foreign minister after the post had been left vacant by Renato Ruggiero. And the Cavaliere still owns Mediaset, Italy’s largest private television network, along with several other business ventures, including AC Milan, the country’s successful football team.

“I like this new job,” Berlusconi was quoted as saying after outlining 7.5 billion euros worth of budget cuts to fellow European Union finance ministers gathered Monday in Brussels.

The premier has since hinted that his interim at the Economy Ministry may last several months - or the time it will take him to enact long awaited tax cuts. The suggestion has hardly pleased his coalition allies.

“We don’t need superman, we need an economy minister who does his job,” thundered Francesco Storace, a senior figure in the National Alliance party, the coalition ally that forced Tremonti’s ousting over the weekend.

“This interim must be short — and by short I mean days, not weeks or months — otherwise we are leaving,” added Marco Follini, head of the centrist UDC party. Rather than gaining a greater voice in economic policy, it appears Berlusconi’s most critical allies have achieved quite the contrary as a result of Tremonti’s departure.

Both opposition parties and independent observers note that Berlusconi’s powers have now increased to unheard of proportions. “With Berlusconi as economy minister, his conflict of interest becomes a mountain,” said Stefano Passigli of the opposition Democratic Left party.

Analysts also note that Italy’s finance minister will be responsible for making significant decisions in the area of taxation, including the timing of tax rebates to individual businesses, such as Berlusconi’s own Mediaset company. And such criticisms are now also being taken up by the premier’s own allies.

Follini, for example, points out that as head of the Treasury, Berlusconi will enjoy even more direct control over RAI, Italy’s state-owned television network and Mediaset’s only real competitor.

“I am still trying to understand what is going on,” Ignazio La Russa, a party whip for the right-wing National Alliance, was quoted by Il Corriere della Sera as saying. “If Berlusconi really opts for an interim until December, we’d have every reason to be worried,” a baffled La Russa said.

Yet, contrary to appearances, it isn’t the potential conflict of interest that most worries Berlusconi’s coalition allies. By eliminating Tremonti, the National Alliance and the UDC — two conservative parties that enjoy broad support in the country’s poorer southern regions — had hoped to rid themselves of his free-market approach to politics and achieve a policy favoring public spending over tax cuts.