Silvio Berlusconi: third time lucky?The election winner has a mandate; this time he must use itAt least the election was decisive. Before Italy voted, all the signs pointed to a close finish, with Walter Veltroni, the candidate of the Left, rapidly closing the gap on Silvio Berlusconi, the 71-year-old media tycoon campaigning for his third term as Prime Minister. There were fears of a low turnout, voter disillusion and another bewildering array of splinter parties that would, yet again, force a premature end to the country's 62nd postwar government. Instead, Mr Berlusconi won a decisive victory and a clear mandate. Of more than twenty smaller parties, most were eliminated, with only six returned to parliament. Not a single Communist or Socialist was elected. Italian politics, for the first time, now offers voters a simple choice between Left and Right, broadly the pattern of all stable democracies. Mr Berlusconi moved swiftly to quash speculation that he would fritter away his mandate much as he wasted the opportunities for reform during his last contentious premiership. He announced that he would push through economic reforms, rescue Alitalia, the beleaguered airline, close the borders to illegal immigrants, strengthen the police and crack down on crime - “the army of evil”. As a signal of his determination to cut through Italy's entrenched interests, he announced that his first Cabinet would meet in Naples, whose piles of rotting garbage summed up for angry voters Italy's winter of discontent, as the dustmen's strike did for Britain in 1979.This ebullient bravado of the self-made millionaire is what has long attracted voters, and what probably persuaded Italians to forgive his gaffes, dubious record and self-interested legislation and entrust their country again to Mr Berlusconi. Italy is deeply sunk into almost fatalist gloom about its stagnant economy, lack of competitiveness, political infighting and - especially galling - eclipse by a booming and confident Spain. Its commentators have seized on the despairing mood reflected by outsiders, especially by this newspaper, and have concluded that Italy, like France, needs a Margaret Thatcher.Whether Mr Berlusconi, after all, has that steely reforming zeal remains to be seen. His past record is not encouraging. Too often he has promised much but delivered little, put pride above pragmatism, girded his country for confrontation with the unions but backed down at the last minute. His promise to rescue the chronically bankrupt Alitalia suggests that, even now, he is unwilling to face the harsh consequences of global competition and Italian inefficiency. The election has both clarified and complicated his task. It has made it clear to almost every voter that Italy has to change. Its economy must be more robust, its workers more flexible, its government more transparent and its civil institutions more responsive. Those who preached outdated class warfare, promised un- affordable social benefits or pretended that the old ways could continue have been swept away. But Mr Berlusconi still cannot rely on a more realistic body politic, especially within his own ranks. The xenophobic and protectionist Northern League, led by the maverick Umberto Bossi, increased its vote and may prove an awkward government partner, as it did last time. Mr Berlusconi won office with customary panache; in government he must show patience, courage and grit. As Mrs Thatcher used to say, there is no alternative.
Anche quelli del Times comunisti??Silvio salvaci Tu!!
Silvio Berlusconi: third time lucky?The election winner has a mandate; this time he must use itAt least the election was decisive. Before Italy voted, all the signs pointed to a close finish, with Walter Veltroni, the candidate of the Left, rapidly closing the gap on Silvio Berlusconi, the 71-year-old media tycoon campaigning for his third term as Prime Minister. There were fears of a low turnout, voter disillusion and another bewildering array of splinter parties that would, yet again, force a premature end to the country's 62nd postwar government. Instead, Mr Berlusconi won a decisive victory and a clear mandate. Of more than twenty smaller parties, most were eliminated, with only six returned to parliament. Not a single Communist or Socialist was elected. Italian politics, for the first time, now offers voters a simple choice between Left and Right, broadly the pattern of all stable democracies. Mr Berlusconi moved swiftly to quash speculation that he would fritter away his mandate much as he wasted the opportunities for reform during his last contentious premiership. He announced that he would push through economic reforms, rescue Alitalia, the beleaguered airline, close the borders to illegal immigrants, strengthen the police and crack down on crime - “the army of evil”. As a signal of his determination to cut through Italy's entrenched interests, he announced that his first Cabinet would meet in Naples, whose piles of rotting garbage summed up for angry voters Italy's winter of discontent, as the dustmen's strike did for Britain in 1979.This ebullient bravado of the self-made millionaire is what has long attracted voters, and what probably persuaded Italians to forgive his gaffes, dubious record and self-interested legislation and entrust their country again to Mr Berlusconi. Italy is deeply sunk into almost fatalist gloom about its stagnant economy, lack of competitiveness, political infighting and - especially galling - eclipse by a booming and confident Spain. Its commentators have seized on the despairing mood reflected by outsiders, especially by this newspaper, and have concluded that Italy, like France, needs a Margaret Thatcher.Whether Mr Berlusconi, after all, has that steely reforming zeal remains to be seen. His past record is not encouraging. Too often he has promised much but delivered little, put pride above pragmatism, girded his country for confrontation with the unions but backed down at the last minute. His promise to rescue the chronically bankrupt Alitalia suggests that, even now, he is unwilling to face the harsh consequences of global competition and Italian inefficiency. The election has both clarified and complicated his task. It has made it clear to almost every voter that Italy has to change. Its economy must be more robust, its workers more flexible, its government more transparent and its civil institutions more responsive. Those who preached outdated class warfare, promised un- affordable social benefits or pretended that the old ways could continue have been swept away. But Mr Berlusconi still cannot rely on a more realistic body politic, especially within his own ranks. The xenophobic and protectionist Northern League, led by the maverick Umberto Bossi, increased its vote and may prove an awkward government partner, as it did last time. Mr Berlusconi won office with customary panache; in government he must show patience, courage and grit. As Mrs Thatcher used to say, there is no alternative.