Berlusconi (eventually) supports Letta’s government in a confidence vote

I haven’t been writing much lately, but definitely not for lack of things to talk about. In fact, now there are too many things to talk about. I honestly don’t even know where to pick up from, so this post will be more a general consideration than a detailed account of events.

Over the last weeks, we have seen the uncontested protagonist of Italian politics, Silvio Berlusconi, threatening (again) to withdraw his support to Enrico Letta’s executive.

Enrico Letta & Silvio Berlusconi

The reason why Berlusconi claimed he would leave the coalition was, supposedly, a fight over IVA (the Italian VAT, “value added tax”). After celebrating his victory following the abolition of IMU (see http://italianfactsrd.blogspot.it/2013/08/berlusconis-party-celebrates-abrogation.html), Berlusconi piled on it by stating that he would not tolerate an IVA increase. Too bad that Letta’s government, after giving in on IMU, noticed that they were still in need of tax revenue. So rumours about an IVA increase became more and more sound (and it is actually in place now).

At some point, Letta openly said that he would ask Parliament for a confidence vote, because he was not going to waste his time if he did not enough support.

Berlusconi took the IVA excuse to blackmail Parliament one more time. This whole argument in fact originated because Berlusconi, following a definitive jail sentence for tax fraud, is facing expulsion from the Senate. The dedicated Senate commission had already voted once in favour of his decay. What Berlusconi was clearly saying was “Either you save me, or I will end your government”. That’s just how much blackmail potential he still has (and this is without a doubt the worst aspect of a grand coalition in Italy).

So, Berlusconi said until the very end that he would deny the confidence. But when the actual vote took place, last Wednesday, it was pure chaos. He insisted in voting no. But then, and this is a real unprecedented episode, his party divided on the subject: a faction led by secretary Angelino Alfano claimed that they would vote in favour of Letta despite what Berlusconi said. The party held a meeting and, after a morning spent going back and forward, Berlusconi eventually announced that they would vote “yes” in the confidence vote.

So, in the end, the government is still there, still potentially blackmailed by the same person. To quote a famous line from the Italian movie “Il Gattopardo”: “Everything must change, so that everything can stay the same”.

However, something that I found shocking actually happened this time: The People of Freedom did not stand blindly by Berlusconi’s side, for once. Both Berlusconi’s old party Forza Italia and the current People of Freedom are the perfect example of a 100% personalized party: they simply could not exist  without him. And yet, this time something went differently. Either they reconcile, or the party will probably split into those remaining loyal to the leader and those going on to form a new group.

And finally: as expected, yesterday morning the Senate commission voted again in favour of Berlusconi’s decadence from his senatorial title. Now, for what I understood, he will face a vote from the whole Senate. We are all waiting to see if at least something will change, this time. 

Berlusconi's appeal to the European Court of Human Rights

As you might have already heard, Berlusconi is appealling to the European Court of Human Rights following his prison sentence for tax fraud. His lawyers sent the Court a file called "Silvio Berlusconi against Italy", in which they are contesting both the conviction and the possibility that Parliament will kick him out. Ironically, Berlusconi should lose his senatorial title according to the "Severino Law", an anti-corruption law which was approved during Monti's government and which was voted for also by Berlusconi's party. Among other things, it also forbids convicted people from sitting in Parliament. All parties, included The People of Freedom, used this law to prevent some convicted politicians from running in the last election, as they all pushed for the so-called "clean lists" (probably just trying to get some more votes). But now that it actually applies to Berlusconi, his party decided that the law should not be retrospective. 
Starting from today, a Senate commission will examine the issue of Berlusconi's "decadence", to use the literal translation. Everything will depend on the Democratic Party, as voting for Berlusconi's expulsion would imply that the grand coalition will fall apart.

But if the Italian Parliament is weak enough to save him, I highly doubt that we should expect the same from the European Court of Human Rights. In fact, here is the reaction we might get from the Strarsbourg Court:

 

(Image from the blog of satiric pictures Colorz, "graphic appendix"of the collective satiric blog Spinoza. Highly recommended to anyone who speaks Italian)

President Napolitano appoints four new life senators- and Berlusconi isn’t one of them

A couple of days ago, the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano unexpectedly nominated four new life senators. The Italian Senate is indeed made of about 95% popularly elected senators on a five-year mandate, and a remaining minority of life appointed peers (Mario Monti, former technocratic PM, was the last one to be appointed in 2011).

The four new life senators are:

•          former Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra director Claudio Abbado (top left)
•          stem cell researcher  Elena Cattaneo (top right)
•          architect Renzo Piano (bottom right)
•         Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carlo Rubbia (bottom left)

These four personalities will, according to Napolitano, act in “absolute independence” and bring their contributions to highly significant areas in institutional life.

Berlusconi’s party The People of Freedom harshly criticised the appointment of these four senators for two main reasons.

First of all, because Silvio Berlusconi is not one of them. Life senators enjoy a series of privileges, including some legal immunity, which might have once again saved Berlusconi (who is facing a prison sentence for tax fraud and awaiting another verdict for the charge of child prostitution). But President Napolitano, by leaving him off the list, seems to clearly send the message that Berlusconi will receive no special treatment.

Secondly, The People of Freedom protested because all four new senators have somehow been critical towards Berlusconi in the past, even though they never openly aligned themselves with the centre-left.

If the four of them turn out to vote in favour of the Democratic Party in the Senate, this could change the numbers in the upper chamber in quite a significant way: now the leftist Democratic Party would need merely 7 votes in order to have a majority that does not include Berlusconi’s party. 7 votes are really not that many, and it is likely that at least 7 “dissidents” from Beppe Grillo’s 5 Star Movement would be willing to vote with the Democratic Party.

It is worth noticing one more time the anomaly of Italian politics: only in Italy someone could actually complain because a convicted person was not made life senator. A normal country would be relieved.  

Daniela Santanchè, People of Freedom MP and adviser, stated: “Congratulations to the four nominees.  But I am deeply sorry for the only one who should have been awarded the life senator honour and was not, that is Silvio Berlusconi. He would have been the best and the most qualified and deserving person. Without taking anything away from the four new life senators, I think that they are not comparable to Berlusconi”.

That’s right: they are indeed so not comparable. Don’t even try to compare them.

Berlusconi’s party celebrates the abrogation of Imu (forgetting about the new “Service Tax”)

So, Berlusconi was sentenced to prison for tax fraud. Parliament has to vote concerning the possible loss of his senatorial title. The very survival of his party The People of Freedom is clearly linked to what will happen to the leader. Hence, we might expect both Berlusconi and his party to be on the edge of despair. Right?

Wrong. They are, in fact, celebrating a “victory” regarding the government’s decision to abolish a property tax, the “Imu”, introduced in 2011 by Monti’s technocrats.

This is a “victory” for Berlusconi because he actually based his whole electoral campaign on the absurd promise to cancel, and even to pay back, the Imu tax.  His party has been pressuring the government for months, threatening to withdraw their support, if they did not abolish the Imu. PM Enrico Letta finally gave in.

And we saw plenty of tweets, statements,  and any other sort of announcements celebrating the success of The People of Freedom’s pledge. Angelino Alfano, party’s secretary, tweeted: “Now the word “Imu” will disappear from dictionaries”.

What Berlusconi and his minions seem to have casually left out is the fact that the Imu is far from disappearing. What actually happened is that the government replaced Imu with a “Service Tax”. Imu was a property tax; the Service Tax, which will become law in 2014, is instead a tax levied by local authorities on the use of local services, as the name itself explains. The Democratic Party called it a “federal tax”, as the national government will not take blame if its revenue is not spent efficiently. Since this a tax not on property but on services, also tenants paying rent will be liable to pay for it.

But anyway, the fact that the actual word “Imu” will disappear is enough to claim victory for The People of Freedom.  And while they rejoice thinking of the votes they might win back, the government still has no idea about how to tackle the huge revenue gap (approximately €4bn) they are left with.

As the Financial Times accurately put it: “Il Cavaliere, as ever, has played clever politics. But while he may claim victory against rivals, Italy is once again the loser”. 

FT article "Rome's bad deal": http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d1ada90-10a7-11e3-b5e4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2dSfGkhMo

Berlusconi's prison sentence for tax fraud upheld by Italy's highest court

Yesterday the Corte di Cassazione, Italy's highest court, confirmed Berlusconi's prison sentence that last October found him guilty of tax evasion in the trade of TV rights by his company Mediaset.

Berlusconi in yesterday's video message

After a meeting that lasted about 7 hours, the court firstly ordered a further judicial review, that will have to be carried out by a minor court, on whether Berlusconi should be banned from public office. Banishment from public office  was in this case the so-called "additional penalty", which goes along with the prison terms and that will now be recalculated by another appeal court.
This initial announcement of postponement for what concerns Berlusconi's ability to remain in office momentarily caused a huge misunderstanding, which saw a bunch of Berlusconi's supporters celebrating outside the court, just as if he had been acquitted.
Then, the main pronouncement came, permanently confirming his sentence to 4 years in prison (automatically reduced to one year under a 2006 pardon law promulgated by the left coalition).
Later yesterday, Berlusconi appeared in a video statement where he criticised the court decision as "genuine judicial harassment that is unmatched in the civilised world".
Even if the sentence is now been confirmed in the later judicial stage, Berlusconi, who is 76, is unlikely to go to jail because of his age. He is likely to serve house arrest or to carry out community service.
We are now waiting to find out the consequences that this sentence will have on the government, in which Berlusconi's party is a main coalition partner.
Needless to say, everywhere else in the world Berlusconi would be thrown out by Parliament and even by his own party.  Unfortunately, this is not to be taken for granted in Italy, a country brainwashed by Berlusconi's fairytales of mean Communist magistrates persecuting the greatest statesman ever. In yesterday's message, the former PM claimed indeed that he would not "give up his fight for freedom".
Nevertheless, being this a definitive sentence, it is to become enforceable right away (we'll see how quickly). Berlusconi remains a Senator for now, but he will likely lose his well-known title of "Knight" ("Cavaliere") awarded by the Order of Merit for Labour.


Link to (part of) Berlusconi's video message: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23544129

Giorgio Gaber, "Io non mi sento Italiano" translation: "I do not feel Italian"

Recently I have been listening to a few songs by Giorgio Gaber. Gaber was an Italian songwriter that I had always heard of, but I’ll admit that I knew almost nothing about him. Shame on me.

This song, “Io non mi sento Italiano”, was contained in an album of the same name released in 2003, shortly after Gaber’s death. Despite being written about a decade ago, I think that many people can still relate to it. I decided to translate it because, as an expat, it perfectly applies to me. Hope you will enjoy it. 

"I do not feel Italian" by Giorgio Gaber

I, G. G, was born and live in Milan.

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately I am.

I'm sorry, President

It is not my fault

But this country of ours

I do not know what it is.

Maybe I am wrong

Maybe it is a good idea

But I fear it might turn into

A bad poem.

I'm sorry, President

I do not really need

The national anthem

Of which I am a little ashamed

Since our football players

(I do not want to judge)

They either do not know it

Or they have more decency (than other football players)

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately I am.

I'm sorry, President

If I am so bold

To say that I do not feel

Any belonging here.

Except Garibaldi

And some other glorious heroes

I see no reason

To be proud.

I'm sorry, President

But I think of the fanaticism

Of the black shirts

In the time of Fascism

From which one day 

This democracy was born

And it takes imagination 

To congratulate her

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately I am.

This beautiful country

Full of poetry

Has many demands

But in our western world

Is just the periphery.

I'm sorry, President

But this State of ours

That you represent

It seems a little wrecked.

It's even too clear

In the eyes of the people

That everything is planned

And nothing works.

It might be that Italians

According to old traditions

Are too obsessed

About any discussion.

Even in parliament

The atmosphere is explosive

They fight about everything

And then nothing ever changes.

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately I am.

I'm sorry, President

You must agree

That the limits we have

Need to be told.

But beside the defeatism

We are what we are

And we also have a past

That we do not forget.

I'm sorry, President

But maybe we Italians

To other people are only

Spaghetti and mandolins.

So here I get pissed

I am proud and I brag

I tell right to their face

What the Renaissance is.

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately I am.

This beautiful country

Might not be too wise

(and) Has confused ideas

But if I were born elsewhere

It could have been worse.

I'm sorry, President

Now I have said many things

There is another consideration 

Which I think is important.

Compared to foreigners

We believe less

But maybe we have understood

That the world is a farce.

I'm sorry, President

I know you do not rejoice

If the cry "Italy, Italy"

Is heard only at football games.

But in part not to die

Or in part as a joke

We have made Europe

Now let’s also make Italy.

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately I am.

I do not feel Italian

But fortunately or unfortunately

Fortunately or unfortunately

Fortunately

Fortunately I am.

Northern League Senator Calderoli compares black Minister Kyenge to an orang-utan

About 6 weeks ago, I wrote how a petition presented to the European Parliament led to the expulsion of Northern League MEP Mario Borghezio. Borghezio sparked outrage for his racist remarks about Italy’s first black Minister, Cecile Kyenge.

On Saturday, Kyenge was insulted by another Northern League leader, vice-president of the Senate Roberto Calderoli (I have already mentioned Calderoli a few times, as he is the author of the “Porcellum”, Italy’s much criticised electoral system).

                                           Roberto Calderoli          Cecile Kyenge

Senator Calderoli, speaking at a political rally in Treviglio, claimed: “I love animals- bears and wolves as it is well-known- but when I see images of Kyenge I cannot help think, even though I’m not saying that she is one, of the resemblance to an orang-utan”.  

He added that she should be a Minister but in her own country (Kyenge is originally from Congo, but has been an Italian citizen for several years), and that she makes many clandestine immigrants coming to Italy dream about “America”.

Reactions from all political parties shortly followed, all condemning Calderoli’s statement. Even President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano said he was “indignant”.

Some members of the Democratic Party, including leader Epifani, called for Calderoli’s resignation.

Calderoli then tried to justify himself by claiming that his remarks were “just a bad joke”, and he apologised to Kyenge over the phone. She accepted his apology, but she also said that the matter remains unsolved on the institutional level.

Just like Borghezio, Calderoli has been known for his racist attitude for a while now. For instance, in 2006 he wore a t-shirt with the infamous Muhammad cartoons, causing some protesters in Lybia to attack the Italian Embassy. In 2007, to show his opposition to the building of a mosque in Bologna, he brought a pig to the designated site.  And many more. Just google his name for plenty of appalling anecdotes.

There is now an on-going petition addressed to the President of the Senate, Pietro Grasso, asking him to have a vote over Calderoli’s resignation. Here’s the link: http://www.change.org/it/petizioni/presidente-del-senato-pietro-grasso-dimissioni-di-calderoli-iostoconcecilekyenge