Newsgroup: it.politica.pds
Titolo: Berlusconi: ten more questions

Published on open Democracy News Analysis (
http://www.opendemocracy.net
)
Silvio Berlusconi: ten more questions
By Geoff Andrews
Created 2009-05-31 23:10
Dear Signor Berlusconi,
It is now nearly three weeks since La Repubblica published [1] its list of 
ten questions in
connection with your relationship to Noemi Letizia. You have chosen not to 
answer their
questions, claiming that the newspaper's initiative was part of a campaign 
organised by the left.
In the weeks since, you have accused La Repubblica of orchestrating a 
left-wing plot that has
extended to the international press, drawing in the Times [2] and the 
Economist [3], amongst
others. In this period you have also described the Italian parliament as 
"useless" and judges as
being fuelled by "hatred" and "jealousy".
It is now only days before the European elections to be held
across the European Union's member-states on 4-7 June 2009,
with Italy's [4] on 6-7 June; these will be followed by Italy's
hosting of the G8 summit [5] in L'Aquila on 8-10 July. Your
response has once again raised questions of wider public
interest over your performance as Italian prime minister. I would
like to put these further ten questions to you now.
1) You have made many criticisms of the role of the press in this
case, despite the fact that Il Giornale [6] (a paper owned by your
family), as well as other newspapers, have regularly defended
your conduct. Few prime ministers have that privilege, yet you
persist in saying that the press is against you. What is your
understanding, then, of a free press? For example, would you
put any conditions on criticisms the press may make of the
prime minister?
2) You accused La Repubblica [7] of "exploiting private matters
for political ends". Yet, the "public" and "private" boundaries
often overlap [8] in your political life, notably through your own vast 
private ownership of daily
newspapers and several TV stations, while you simultaneously wield political 
power. You
agreed to resolve this "conflict of interests" within 100 days of taking 
office, yet nothing has been
done. There are wide criticisms of this situation throughout Europe. Why 
have you not resolved
this "conflict of interests" and do you not think it presents a problem for 
Italian democracy?
3) On 21 May 2009, you described [9] the Italian parliament as "useless", 
suggesting that only
100 MPs were needed to get the work done. At the same time, you claim [10] 
that the Italian
people are "with you". Is your view, then, that the Italian electorate would 
happily give you more
power to "get things done" more efficiently?
Page 1 of 4
4) You have compared the role of government to that of a private company, 
and contrasted
legislators unfavourably with entrepreneurs. Do you understand the 
difference between being a
successful salesman and a successful statesman?
5) On 19 May, an Italian court ruled [11] that you had bribed your British 
lawyer, David Mills, by
paying $600,000 to give false testimony on your behalf. Mills was convicted 
in February, though
you have been protected by parliamentary-immunity legislation passed by your 
government.
You have said that you will be making a statement to parliament on the 
matter "as soon as you
have time", but not before the European elections. Why is that and when [12] 
will the statement
be made?
6) In addition to your criticisms of the Italian parliament, you regularly 
attack [13] Italian judges
for their bias and "insanity". You have recently faced criticism for 
undermining constitutional
procedures, leading to conflict with the president of the Italian republic, 
Giorgio Napolitano [14],
most recently in the right-to-die case [15] of Eluana Englaro. It has been 
claimed that you
yourself have high aspirations to succeed Napolitano. Can you confirm your 
intention to become
president of the republic and what would you bring to the role?
7) In July 2009 you will be hosting [16] a G8 summit in L'Aquila. At 
previous summits and
international gatherings of world leaders, you have had some communication 
problems with
some of your peers. Do you envisage any more this year?
8) What, in your view, are your greatest achievements [17] as Italian prime 
minister?
9) During the last few weeks you have denied being directly involved in the 
selection of TV
showgirls [18] as parliamentary candidates for your party, even though your 
own newspaper Il
Giornale has admitted as much. Can you clarify whether you have or you have 
not?
10) Finally, why does Noemi Letizia, your 18-year-old friend in Naples, call 
[19] you "Papi"?
Yours sincerely,
Geoff Andrews

Silvio Berlusconi: ten more questions
Altre dieci doamnde? Non rispondo.
Comunisti. Eversori. Chiedermi del conflitto d'interessi, chiedermi se
so che differenza passa fra un paizzista e un uomo di stato, chiedermi
qul � la mia concezione della stampa libera?
Ma siamo matti? Ma insomma, ma cribbio. Violazione della privacy. Non
rispondo. Questi sono fatti miei privati. Perch� lo stato sono io.
Firmato Re S�la