Convalesco

The political and electoral system in Italy must change. The fact that Silvio Berlusconi is once again on board, means that Italy has no chance of improvement, will hardly make any important social end economic reforms, will hardly convince anyone to invest to a close, bribery driven environment, such as Italy. The economic reforms so badly needed by the state will remain a a dream with average consumer acquisition level lowering through the years. But most of these statements have been already made by the Economist journal before.

The real question is, for what cosmic reason did the Italians the same mistake for the third time?

The fact that Silvio Berlusconi has formed his third, apparently stable, government has it’s roots on two main factors: The average Italian has has a cheap, bass class, culture and the lack of a competitive alternative.
In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi is not seen like a controversial figure that steps into politics for his own goals. The media giant has crystal clear reasons, as business man, to take over the state. The problem is that, in Italy, Mr. Berlusconi is the example of a business man who achieved everything and more in life. He owns the most winning soccer team, A. C. Milan, which makes him very popular in Milan and north Italy, as well as in every part of Europe where soccer is played. He also owns the most famous Italian private TV network, called Mediaset, which is the only one that can contrast the national TV, called RAI.

Of course now, RAI is going under his control for the third time. The fact that RAI lost it’s majority market percentage the second time Berlusconi won the elections, is a strange coincidence. The first time he was elected hadn’t had the time to do, because the government collapsed shortly. There has been criticism about the RAI-MediaSet conflict which is a bit too much to oversee for a political observer.

Berlusconi represents a positive example in Italy, for most Italians, and that alone is a serious concern. The “Caymano” has been charged several times for fiscal evasions, fraud and his links to the Mafia and the mafioso ex-president Bettino Craxi which was the unexpected victim of the Mani Pulite operation. Berlusconi got a licence to create a tv network when it unconstitutional for anyone else to do so. The permission came in the mid 80’s by a decision signed by Craxi. This unreleased video of Paolo Borsellino talking about the Mafia. The scary thing is the, for the first time the name of Silvio Berlusconi comes through, from the number one anti-Mafia rider Italy’s ever seen. It’s not clearly stated from Borsellino that Berlusconi is a “Mafioso”, but he doesn’t deny it either…

Of course, all the above would be enough to make him unfit for such an important position. Only the fear that he could be linked with the Mafia or the fact that he is a business man would be enough. Apparently is not so for the Italians for voted him for the third time.

The lack of a “valid” alternative is not a justification. Mr. Berlusconi may be a criminal, the fear that he just may be, would be enough to keep him out of politics. It’s true that while the UK, Germany and France had recently seen the rise of important and strong political figures (Brown, Merkel and Sarkozy), Italy’s political figures are mostly the same the last ten years… The political view in Italy is sad and unlikely to change .