Revolting Europe
berlusconi
Italy: the problem with Renzi
By Giorgio Cremaschi* A few months ago all the Italian media reported with great sympathy the struggle of the Greek state television journalists against the cuts decided by the government in the name of austerity. Now they point the finger at the strike at Italy’s state broadcaster Rai, characterising it as a revolt of bureaucracy … Continue reading
What’s the punishment for a 300 million euro tax fraud?
What’s the punishment for a 300 million euro tax fraud? If you are in Italy and your name is Silvio Berlusconi it is about a week hanging out with people your age. A court in Milan ruled earlier this week that as his sentence the 77-year-old billionaire media mogul and thrice Italian PM would be performing … Continue reading
On Berlusconi’s efforts to bring down Italy’s government
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / IL MANIFESTO A band of parliamentarians and extortionists led by a criminal. Irresponsible in the face of the Italian people’s problems. Supremely arrogant with respect to the country’s institutions. In their political code there is no national interest, but only that of their ” boss.” Because the acceleration of a … Continue reading
Italy’s centre left bounces back, but will it last?
Italy’s Grand Coalition is paying dividends for the centre-left Democratic Party. But will it last? Analysis of last weekend’s local elections by Tom Gill in the Morning Star
Italy’s centre-left is dead, long live the Italian Left!
The ‘grand coalition’ between the Democratic Party and Berlusconi’s right-wing People of Liberty party means it’s time to say goodbye to the ‘centre-left’ and hello to a new Italian Left, says Marco Sferini. For the first time after the death of the Christian Democrats and the Italian Communist Party , the bourgeois forces find themselves politically … Continue reading
Italy’s Presidential vote deepens Bersani’s woes
Things are not going at all well for Italy’s centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani. Once clear favourite to replace Mario Monti as prime minister, he’s now fighting for his political survival. Parliamentary elections in February denied his alliance enough votes to govern alone and the upstart Five Star Movement led by comedian-blogger Beppe Grillo rejected offers … Continue reading
Italy: Business as usual (actually it’s even worse)
By Francesco Piobbichi Business as usual. European Central Bank Mario Draghi was the real election victor and his victory will allow him to run the country for another six months, on autopilot . The autopilot Draghi was talking about is nothing other than the set of rules laid down by the treaties (Fiscal Compact) recently … Continue reading
Bersani, Berlusconi and another Italian inciucio?
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / MICROMEGA Paolo Flores d’Arcais Today, Saturday, March 23, there will be two piazzas in Rome, two ways of understanding politics, two Italies. In Piazza del Popolo, there will be Berlusconi supporters, devoted to immeasurable wealth and financial and media power, motivated by contempt for the Constitution of the Republic that … Continue reading
Who are Europe’s real clowns?
Peer Steinbrück, the SPD opposition candidate for Chancellor in this autumn’s elections in Germany, caused a diplomatic row in the wake of the Italian elections by describing ‘populists’ Silvio Berlusconi and Beppe Grillo as clowns. But neither Peer Steinbrück nor Angela Merkel have understood a thing about Europe’s crisis, argues Jakob Augstein. A Swiss vote against greed and … Continue reading
Italy: How the spread lost the elections
Grillo’s success and failure of Monti and the peninsula’s two main parties is a sign of a growing European revolt that has finally started in Italy too, says Giorgio Cremaschi The markets have reacted badly. It was obvious, banking and finance wanted the victory of the Democrats, working with Monti. Moreover, if elections had delivered victory … Continue reading
Decision time for Italian voters
Italians are voting again after 14 months under “technocrat” Mario Monti. The outcome of the election in terms of delivering a stable government is uncertain. Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left Democrats have been leading in the polls, but billionaire media magnate Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing alliance is expected to put in a strong showing as is newcomer … Continue reading
Berlusconi’s proto-fascism
By Dino Greco Having again, shamelessly opened his black heart to absolve Mussolini, and his deeds, Silvio Berlusconi sparked outrage, shame rejection, dismay – and so on and so forth – among almost all major players and commentators in national politics. Worse, he vomited his own indecent words on “Memorial Day”, in front of the notorious Platform … Continue reading
The Return of Il Cavaliere and the Conflict of Interest
By Giuseppe Giulietti ‘Forced to stand again, so many have asked me.’ These were the last words of Silvio Berlusconi, or maybe the penultimate, as is his wont to change his mind in a matter of hours, if not minutes. Yet this time he told the truth, expressing what is always rumbling deep inside him. … Continue reading
Governed by a tax evader
Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in jail on Friday for tax fraud. The court ruling came two days after Berlusconi confirmed he would not run in next year’s elections as the leader of his People of Freedom (PDL) party, ending almost 19 years as the dominant politician of Italy’s Right. IN THE RADICAL … Continue reading
Italy passes hire and fire labour ‘reforms’ but no hope of jobs or growth
The government of Mario Monti has passed labour ‘reforms’ that will make it easier for employers to fire workers. The vote, after months of haggling in parliament, came as workers and their unions protested against the measures that seek to dump the costs of an escalating crisis of the global banking sector and the Euro … Continue reading
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