Newsgroup: it.politica.pds
Titolo: L'Economiste e il Sultano bungled bungled (nelle pettole)

Silvio Berlusconi's opponents have tried everything to get rid of him.
They have manoeuvred against him, decried his policies, condemned his
methods and, he has long claimed, incited left-wing prosecutors to try
and jail him.
But since October 26th, a new possibility has emerged: that the
74-year-old Mr Berlusconi might just be laughed off the Italian
political stage. Some of the details of the latest scandal to engulf
him are such that even his most faithful supporters must realise he
makes Italy an object of derision.
The girl at the centre of the affair—a 17-year-old Moroccan
runaway—calls herself Ruby Rubacuori, or “Ruby Heartstealer”. On her
Facebook page, her activities include belly dancing, and before she
became involved with Italy’s prime minister she appears to have worked
in Milan nightclubs.
The precise nature of their involvement is unclear. “Ruby”—whose real
name appears to be Karima El Mahroug—said in an interview published on
Saturday that she visited Mr Berlusconi’s home outside Milan only
once, on Valentine’s Day this year, and that after giving him an
account of her misfortunes, he gave her €7,000 ($9,770) and some
jewellery. But, according to leaked details from an inquiry in Milan,
she had earlier told police and prosecutors that she had been there
three times, and that one of the parties ended in an erotic game
called “Bunga, Bunga”.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to any number of jokes and even a song
performed on Italian network television to the tune of Shakira’s Waka
Waka World Cup anthem.
However amusing to others, the affair is potentially serious for Mr
Berlusconi. Three close associates of the prime minister are
reportedly under investigation on suspicion of aiding and abetting
prostitution on the basis of Ms El Mahroug’s depositions. She denies
having had sex with the prime minister, but the investigators are
looking into whether others did, and were rewarded for doing so.
That would not incriminate Mr Berlusconi. But it might be enough to
bring charges against his associates, who are suspected of procuring
the women. One, a former showgirl called Nicole Minetti who is now a
regional parliamentarian for Mr Berlusconi’s party, collected Ms El
Mahroug after she was released from a police station in May.
The young Moroccan had been detained on suspicion of stealing €3,000,
but was let go. The station commander said in an interview on October
29th that one of his officers had earlier received a call from the
prime minister’s office informing them, erroneously, that Ms El
Mahroug was the grand-daughter of Egypt’s president, Hosni Mubarak.
As opposition politicians swiftly noted, that could mean Mr Berlusconi
had abused his position and thus committed an offence under Italian
law. Far from denying it, the prime minister appears bent on defiance.
On October 29th, he admitted he had sent Ms Minetti “to provide help
to someone who could have been consigned not to a home or the jails...
but fostered”. Mr Berlusconi added that he had no intention of
changing his lifestyle or explaining what went on at his home.
That sort of brazenness got him through the last bout of sex scandals
in 2009. But there are several reasons for questioning whether it will
work this time.
Mr Berlusconi is much weaker now. His poll ratings have fallen as
Italians have becoming increasingly sceptical about his blithe
assurances on the state of the economy. That has made them less
tolerant of evidence of corruption in his government. And since July,
when his former ally, Gianfranco Fini, formed a separate parliamentary
group, the prime minister has been without an assured majority in the
lower chamber.
Last year, most of the prime minister’s supporters went along with him
as he ignored calls for a parliamentary statement, shrugged off claims
he had laid himself open to blackmail and jauntily admitted he was no
angel. But it was expected that he would save them from future
embarrassment by being, if not more virtuous, then at least more
discreet.
Mr Berlusconi has confounded that expectation, calling into question
not just his private life but his judgement.
["Bungled bungled", The Economist, Nov 1st 2010]

 Silvio Berlusconi's
TUTTI INVIDIOSI DI SILVIUCCIO, EHH?