I’m back, crows Berlusconi after leading party to local elections win
SILVIO BERLUSCONI, the master of the political comeback, declared himself the driving force of Italy’s centreright after his Forza Italia party and its allies triumphed in local elections across the country.
Despite being forced to resign six years ago amid claims of paying for sex with an underage prostitute, the 80-year-old billionaire businessman has emerged once again as a kingmaker in Italy’s fractured political landscape. He was exuberant after a centre-right bloc consisting of his party, the antiimmigration Northern League and a smaller Right-wing partner triumphed in local elections.
The results hinted at the possible outcome of a general election, which Italy is due to hold some time before next spring, although analysts warned that local results would not necessarily be replicated at the national level.
“I am the driving force of the centreright,” the former prime minister said, as the results of Sunday’s voting emerged yesterday. He boasted that he had given 46 television interviews during the campaign, injecting energy into his party’s efforts.
“I’m back, and you can see the results,” he said. “If we remain united, we will win the general election. And we will do so with a programme that I’m drawing up and will make public soon.”
He may be back at the coalface of politics but “Il Cavaliere” (The Knight) is unlikely to return as prime minister – not just because of his age but also because he was banned from public office for at least six years in 2013 after being convicted of tax evasion. He is appealing against the ban at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The Right’s biggest achievement was to take the working-class port city of Genoa, which has been a stronghold of the Left for more than 50 years. They also won L’aquila, the mountain city devastated by an earthquake in 2009, as well as Verona, Como and Monza.
“The wind is blowing for the centreright from the north to the centre to the south,” said Renato Brunetta, party leader in the lower house.
For Forza Italia to do as well at a national level it will need to forge an alliance with the Northern League – but years of squabbling could make that difficult. The results were a serious setback for Matteo Renzi, leader of the Democrats, who quit as prime minister after losing a referendum on constitutional reform but who hopes to return to power.
The elections also highlighted disappointment for the Eurosceptic Five Star Movement, though Roberto D’alimonte, a political scientist from Luiss University in Rome, said the party was by no means out. “They are still polling 25-30 per cent in surveys. That is about the same as the Democratic Party,” he said.