Sicily win puts Berlusconi’s party back in spotlight

PALERMO: Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi looked poised on Monday for a stunning political comeback as his rightist bloc claimed victory in an election in Sicily that put it in pole position for a national vote due by next May.

The regional Sicilian ballot, held on Sunday, was seen as a dry run for the nationwide election, with many of the island’s problems reflecting those of the country as a whole: high unemployment, a debt mountain and sluggish economic growth.

An influx of migrants, many of whom are arriving in Sicily after being rescued in the Mediterranean, was also a key issue.

With all of the votes counted, a centre-right bloc backed by the four-time prime minister was more than five percentage points ahead of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, with the centre left, which governs at the national level, a distant third.

“Sicily, just as I asked, has chosen the path of real, serious, constructive change, based on honesty, competence and experience,” Berlusconi, 81, said in a video posted on Facebook.

Nello Musumeci, the centreright’s candidate for governor of the island, had 39.8 per cent of the vote, while the 5-Star’s Giancarlo Cancelleri had 34.7 per cent.

The centre-left’s Fabrizio Micari had 18.7 per cent.

The result puts Berlusconi back on the political map after years of sex scandals and graft allegations that had seemed to have reduced the billionaire media mogul to a spent force.

Berlusconi cannot run for office due to a 2013 tax fraud conviction, but he hopes the European Court of Human Rights overturns this ban when it reviews his case later this year, which would pave the way for a possible national challenge.

He returned to the fray after open-heart surgery last year and campaigned actively in Sicily.

Even if the courts deny him the chance to run, he would be an influential figure should the centre right capture power again nationally. Reuters