9356 Article about Berlosconi in the FT - Horrible reading

I have clipped some parts of an article below. For the full link [url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4bc87f5c-0c93-11dd-86df-0000779fd2ac.html]FT.com / Columnists / Philip Stephens - Self-styled saviour is symptom of Italy?s ills[/url]

Self-styled saviour is symptom of Italy’s ills
By Philip Stephens

Published: April 17 2008 18:55 | Last updated: April 17 2008 18:55

"How can Italy recast itself as a vibrant European democracy when its prime minister would be disqualified from office in any and all of the states against which it wants to measure itself?"

"The economy has more or less stagnated for a decade. The country’s public debt exceeds its national income. The divide between the prosperous north and the backward south is widening. Mr Berlusconi’s comments about the prosecutors mirror a corrosion of confidence in the judicial system."

"A recent parliamentary report noted that Italy’s biggest commercial enterprise was not the rejuvenated Fiat automobile company but the ‘Ndrangheta organisation. From its base in Calabria the criminal network controls an empire with an annual income estimated at €40bn ($64bn, £32bn)."

"Mr Berlusconi is the symptom of, rather than solution to, Italy’s ills. It deserves better than a slide into bombastic irrelevance."

Category
Italian Politics

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/27/2008 - 06:47

I asked Italian friends why we had read so little critical comment about Sig. B in the Italian press. There was plenty in the English broadsheets afterall? Reply was:You may not have read much about Berlusconi because he isn't officially prime minister until some time this coming week. The Italian President calls him and asks him formally to form a government. Then there may be a few days delay and then he and his cabinet all sworn in.

As for the Alitalia saga, apperently that may take longer because Italy must/should wait for the European Union to approve the bridging loan and British Airways has already made a formal protest and they say Ryanair and SAS will also protest. I can't imagine any group of savvy Italian businessmen wanting to invest in Alitalia but Mr. B will play his little games. Or perhaps it's a new way of swallowing up suspect cash?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/27/2008 - 15:13

So who is the politician who is obsessed by fashion, who is prone to emotional outbursts in public, and who spends an absolute fortune getting their hair done?

Can it be one of that phalanx of women in the 'too pink' Spanish government?

No - it's Berlusconi.

(not original - possibly Guardian Online around the time of Silvio's recent unwise remarks about Spain)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 03:40

I'm certain that the Spanish "pink" brigade does not spend a tenth of what Mr B does on his public appearance.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/28/2008 - 08:27

[quote=Noble;88448]I asked Italian friends why we had read so little critical comment about Sig. B in the Italian press. There was plenty in the English broadsheets afterall? Reply was:You may not have read much about Berlusconi because he isn't officially prime minister until some time this coming week. The Italian President calls him and asks him formally to form a government. Then there may be a few days delay and then he and his cabinet all sworn in. [/quote]

And the fact that Berlusconi owns most of the Italian media is just a coincidence, I'm sure...:eerr: