Ever since I was a student in Italy, I’ve been fascinated by Silvio Berlusconi. Not, I hasten to add, because of his political stance or personality. The reason I found him so interesting was his seemingly impossible success: how could such a scandalous, corrupt and politically incorrect politician be so popular and hold office for such record time? Above all in a country where religious, family and moral values are of such high importance?
Berlusconi’s resignation last week and Italy’s reaction to it clarified some of the mystery surrounding this. Having been practically implored by European heads of state, some of his own party members and indeed both the Italian stock exchange and press to step down, il Cavaliere (the Knight) as he likes to be known as, did the honorable thing.
There were reports of fireworks and parties in Rome celebrating the end of the Berlusconi era similar to those that took place when Italy won the world cup in 2006. Angry, disillusioned and humiliated citizens turned up at the presidential palace to jeer at the ex-PM who had become the object of international ridicule and the reason that their country was in financial dire straits.
Not all Italians however were quite so riled. My (Italian) husband is a case in point. While I (not Italian) had been refreshing the BBC news website all afternoon, eagerly seeking an update on the shamed PM, my husband could just about conjure a semi interested ‘really?’ to my sensational news that he’d resigned. Not only this but he snubbed checking out the story for himself, preferring to catch up on some far more interesting football corruption scandal on ‘la gazzetta dello sport’ instead.
Indifference is not the result of political disinterest but from years of putting up with news of Berlusconi’s misdemeanors. “We’re just so tired of these stories,” said one of my friends when I quizzed her on the subject. And numerous, outrageous stories there have been over the years. By his own calculation, Berlusconi estimates to have made 2,500 court appearances in 20 years for alleged crimes such as tax fraud, bribery, abuse of power, and more recently paying for sex with an underage prostitute. And that’s not to speak of his non-criminal tales of hair transplants, gaffes with world leaders, controlling the Italian media or his infamous ‘bunga bunga’ parties.
Indeed for a PM with such a busy agenda, (he also owns and controls the country’s three biggest private TV stations and is the owner of football club AC Milan) and who claims to run the country in his ‘spare time’, it’s little wonder that the country is in the state it is.
But despite all these shocking accounts of inappropriateness, there is something about this man that I still find mildly admirable. Maybe it’s his impressive personal business success or the fact that despite the odds he still managed to convince and gain support from more people than any of his recent predecessors. Or maybe because, up until recently, he stopped at literally nothing (except force) to get exactly whatever he wanted.
Great blog Charlotte.