Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Did you really think Silvio Berlusconi had gone?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/21/berlusconi-italy-mario-monti/print
 
 
Italy's former premier will use all his influence in parliament and
the media to undermine Mario Monti and serve his own interests
 
    Benedetta Brevini
 
guardian.co.uk
, Monday 21 November 2011 18.41 GMT
 
There are few Italians who doubt that Mario Monti's new government
will deliver the austerity package already agreed upon by European
institutions. Monti's reputation and experience in Europe has already
won the support of European political leaders, as shown by the
upcoming meeting on Thursday with Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.
However, if Italy is back on the European scene, the new government –
already labelled "the professors' government" – will still be
dependent on the main political parties to pass the much-needed
reforms in parliament.
 
And the first person to block such reforms may well be the one that
Italians thought they had only just seen the back of. There are
reasons to believe that Silvio Berlusconi's Freedom party will fight
his battle to prevent domestic reforms that could impede his return as
a leader. There are some crucial policy changes that are of particular
concern to the former prime minister: electoral reform, justice reform
and communication reform, which could ban media tycoons from active
politics.
 
Berlusconi's political agenda is very clear: he has been reported as
saying that his party will "unplug Monti's government life support
whenever necessary". And this is likely to happen as soon as his name
rises in the polls again. There couldn't be a clearer indication of
Berlusconi's plans: in the expectation that Italians will quickly
forget the incompetence he displayed while in power, Berlusconi hopes
to lead his party to success at the next general election in 2013.
Those who had hoped that Berlusconi would finally withdraw from
politics to write his biography will be sorely disappointed.
 
The reasons for his enduring fight are manifold. Berlusconi faces
several trials, the first of which will resume on 21 November, without
his prolonged immunity shield as a premier. His media empire has
suffered during the political and economic crisis and a change of
electoral law before the new elections might stop him from bringing
his closest allies – his lawyers, showgirls and loyal assistants –
into parliament.
 
It's easy to predict that Berlusconi will try to protect his personal
interests through two important tools: his deputies in parliament and
his untouched media empire. That his unchallenged propaganda machine
was already at work at the time of his resignation can be easily
illustrated. While in Britain, the BBC was broadcasting Berlusconi's
resignation live, Italian state and commercial television chose not to
show the celebrations of thousands of Italians in front of the
presidential palace. On the day of his resignation, Berlusconi also
did something unthinkable for a European democracy: he sent a video
message to all television stations (public and commercial) to claim
the "impressive achievements of his government" and his "doubled
commitment" to Italy's future. He also claimed that he never lost the
confidence of the parliament.
 
Berlusconi's personal propaganda efforts have already been backed by
all his media outlets: his commercial television stations, magazines
and newspapers are already involved in a strenuous campaign to tarnish
Monti's government. The message that his media are sending out to the
public is that the new government is one of "bankers" and not of the
people.
 
Italian public television is still managed by some of Berlusconi's
strongest supporters – a significant fact, given that a recent study
has pointed out that trust in television is the most significant
indicator of trust in the Italian prime minister.
 
We all expect that Monti will prioritise economic policy change over
justice, communication and electoral reforms. However, to secure fair
elections at the end of his term, a new law on conflict of interest,
new media ownership rules and a reform of Italian public broadcasting
cannot be delayed further. This would finally put Italy in line with
the demands of the Council of Europe and the European parliament. The
political independence of Monti from Berlusconi will be judged first
and foremost by these urgent changes. Perhaps Gramsci would agree that
the old order is over in Italy. We must now wait to see what the new
order will look like.
 
    © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated
companies. All rights reserved.
 

     
guardian.co.uk
, Monday 21 November 2011 18.41 GMT
 
ha scopiazzato Bifo
http://blog-micromega.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2011/11/21/franco-berardi-bifo-nessuna-sconfitta-per-berlusconi/