Nothing sums up former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s five years in power so well than the unedifying manner in which he is refusing to admit his narrow defeat in last week’s general election. This was a man who broke the mold of Italy’s revolving-door postwar governments, won a strong mandate to transform Italy, but who in the end delivered very little, except a series of laws protecting him and various business associates from prosecution for corruption, fraud and tax evasion.
A real politician would put the interests of his country first and quit. However slim the majority of his challenger Romano Prodi, the electoral authorities have ruled that the former EU Commission president has won. Italy’s Supreme Court, reviewing disputed ballot papers yesterday confirmed that finding and said even if all the dubious votes should in fact have gone to Berlusconi’s coalition, he would still not have won. Yet the media magnate who is reputedly Italy’s richest man, still refuses to abide by these conclusions and is pitting his hopes on a further legal challenge.
Among other EU leaders there is quiet despair at the ousted Italian premier’s antics. This is not the behavior to be expected of a politician in a Europe which prides itself on its democratic process. Even if he really does believe that the electoral count was flawed, Berlusconi should respect the ruling of his country’s courts, until such time as he can challenge it successfully. That he is not doing this but trying to cling to his position like a petulant child, is deplorable.
Italians find it hard to have a moderate view of this colorful politician. He is either adored or hated. His supporters have been amused by his bombast and mercurial antics. He famously bellowed at a German MEP that he was behaving like a Nazi concentration camp guard. He has stormed out of TV interviews, compared himself to Jesus Christ and used political invective that was as colorful as it has been scabrous.
That he is a “character” appeals to many Italians, even those who would hesitate to actually vote for him. The country’s prewar dictator Benito Mussolini, to whom in profile Berlusconi bears a passing resemblance, also delighted the crowds with his strutting antics.
However those who harbor a deep dislike for the man point to his dubious business dealings, the way he has bent the law to block the work of investigating magistrates and the way in which he has done little to enhance Italy’s image either in Europe or further afield. Berlusconi’s slavish support for President Bush’s Iraq policy has earned Italy no credit and much criticism.
Nevertheless, however much of a buffoon he played, Berlusconi would have been forgiven had he delivered on his original election pledges to grow the Italian economy and create a million jobs. Voters imagined he could repeat his personal business success for his country.
He did not, which perhaps now casts doubt over the reality of his media empire and might explain his refusal to go.
