Back to Berlusconi?
Italy's president dissolved parliament after Prime Minister Romano Prodi's ruling center-left coalition collapsed, and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is leading in polls ahead of new elections. Prodi's government was "a disaster," said
What happened
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano dissolved parliament after Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s ruling center-left coalition lost a vote of confidence. Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, a 71-year-old billionaire media magnate, scuttled an attempt by Napolitano to broker an interim unity government that would reform Italy’s electoral laws, forcing elections in April. Berlusconi, a conservative, is leading in the polls. (The New York Times, free registration)
What the commentators said
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Italians are excited about the election, said the London Times Online in an editorial. Unfortunately, “the election that has them excited is the U.S. presidential race.” Italians are dispirited and full of “ennui” about their own politicians. Prodi’s “spaghetti-bowl coalition” government “was in almost all respects a disaster.” At least Berlusconi—despite his “enormous wealth and his vulgarity"—achieved important labor and pension reforms, and convinced voters that he’s “a ‘straight talker’ who understands their concerns.”
Please! Berlusconi only understands his own concerns, said Ed Vulliamy in The New Zealand Herald. That’s why he “dabbled in politics” in the first place—to stop the government from breaking up his media empire. Italy is facing a crisis or two, with the mafia-led garbage strike in Naples and economic “malaise” that has dropped its economy behind Spain’s. But if Italians are looking for “a man for a crisis,” they shouldn't settle for a scandal-tainted tycoon.
There might be a silver lining to Berlusconi’s comeback, said Tony Barber in the Financial Times’ Brussels Blog. A new Berlusconi government will give the European Union an opening to break apart Mediaset, the crown jewel of his media empire. The EU last month ruled that Italy’s current media market is an anticompetitve “stitch-up between Mediaset and Rai,” the state-controlled broadcaster essentially run by whoever is prime minister. Italy’s center-left governments since the 1990s have tried, and failed, to reform Italy’s media laws to curb political meddling. But with Berlusconi in power, “his massive conflict of interest” could push the EU to show “Italians that, even if they cannot fix what is wrong in Italy, Europe can sometimes do it for them.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Lauren Oyler's favorite collection of essays that will leave you deep in thought
Feature The author recommends works by Elif Batuman, Mark Greif, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 waterside homes that float
Feature Featuring a house with two luxury boats in Oregon and a 1968 Gibson Riverboat-turned-home in New York
By The Week Staff Published
-
The hollow classroom
Opinion Remote school let kids down. It will take much more than extra tutoring for kids to recover.
By Mark Gimein Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published