|
From Italy's highest court to the US State Department and Muammer Gadaffi, Libya's leader, Romano Prodi has received recognition of his victory in last week's national election from everyone that matters in the world.
Everyone, that is, except the man he defeated - Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's billionaire media magnate and prime minister for the past five years.
One purpose behind Mr Berlusconi's refusal, described as "sad" by Mr Prodi, is to cast such aspersions over the forthcoming Prodi-led government that it will lack full legitimacy in the eyes of the Italian public.
This, Mr Berlusconi calculates, may accelerate its collapse, not least because it will in any case struggle with a minuscule majority in parliament's upper house and with internal divisions over policy and personnel appointments.
The fact that his disregard of the election result flies in the face of accepted political practice in all western democracies has upset some of Mr Berlusconi's allies, who have broken ranks with him and congratulated Mr Prodi.
Italian political commentators are also disturbed. "To continue declaring or insinuating that the new parliament is not legitimate would be a very serious step, such as to create instability and permanent disorder," Stefano Folli wrote in Thursday's Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy's leading business newspaper.
As for Mr Berlusconi, he seems troubled not one whit. "It's clear that whoever wants to be recognised as the winner for having obtained a majority of the seats ..should in his turn recognise that the political victory in terms of votes gained belongs to the [centre-right] House of Freedoms, and that Forza Italia, with 24 per cent, is the country's leading party," he said in an interview published in Friday's Piccolo, a Trieste-based newspaper.
Politicians cite two other reasons for Mr Berlusconi's tactics. First, he needs to reassert his leadership of Italy's centre-right, so that his second election defeat at Mr Prodi's hands in 10 years does not deprive him of the chance to regain power in an election triggered by the early fall of a Prodi government.
Giovanni Alemanno, agriculture minister, this week suggested the leadership would soon be up for grabs and named four contenders. They were Giulio Tremonti, finance minister and Forza Italia vice-president; Giuseppe Pisanu, interior minister and another Forza Italia "big beast"; Gianfranco Fini, foreign minister and leader of Mr Alemanno's National Alliance party; and Pier Ferdinando Casini, the most prominent Christian Democrat in the Berlusconi coalition.
Such speculation irritates Mr Berlusconi, and his determination to suppress it hints at the third reason for his behaviour. This is his suspicion that a Prodi government will pass a law cracking down on the conflict of interests that has bedevilled Mr Berlusconi's career as media magnate and politician.
In essence, he may be compelled to choose between Mediaset, his television empire, and his political ambitions. To avoid having to make such a choice, he needs to topple Mr Prodi's government as soon as possible.
The sheer weight of its internal contradictions means that the next government may never get far off the ground anyway. Centre-left leaders are pleading with Mr Prodi to sort out a damaging row over who should become the next speaker of parliament's lower house to replace Mr Casini.
Once he forms his government, Mr Prodi will face even thornier problems in settling disputes over fiscal policy, labour market laws and Italy's troop presence in Iraq.
|
