Once upon a time there was a great king called Berlusconi who ruled a republic
Sometimes I wonder how a man such as Berlusconi could take power in a country that is one of the richest in the world. And when I talk to Italians and ask them about Berlusconi they all have something negative to say about him, only a few dare to say that he’s a good leader. So, who on Earth or I must say, who in Italy voted for him?
«Berlusconi: seriously harmful to democracy» Photo: Geneviève Gagné
Last week-end, on the 5th of December, thousands of frustrated Italians met in a famous square in Rome to declare this date as No B-day (No Berlusconi day). This initiative started on the web where citizens decided to create a group on Facebook to force the Prime minister to step down. Unlike the other group on the same site that was meant to kill the Prime minister and was then shut down, this one was able to gather a large amount of people who believe that Berlusconi shouldn’t govern their country because of a long list of reasons. Let’s name a few here: conflict of interests, conflict of interests and conflict of interests. He has at least three court cases pending and he wants to introduce a law to shorten up the lenght of some cases such as his and on top of that, his lawyer sits at the Senate and is a member of his party (Partito democratico)
Read the letter written by Roberto Saviano, author of the book Gomorra, to Berlusconi to say no to this law which in his opinion serves only personal interests.
www.repubblica.it/2009/11/sezioni/politica/giustizia-17/appello-eng/appello-eng
But to come back to my initial question, who voted for him? And if Italians had to vote again today, he would still win. Many Italians tell me that the left wing is too complicated and that internal fights are just counterproductive and that there’s no other choice than to vote for Berlusconi. Others tell me that we only hear negative things about him and completely ignore positive things he does to his country. They might be right but he should be a good politician and stop focusing on himself, which might be difficult for him, and work on the country’s problems such as the economic crisis that has repercussions on so many sectors of the country (young graduates, families, entrepreneurs, small businesses etc.). Because it’s hard for journalists and his opponents to focus on something else. All of his controversial actions are just food for them and not any kind of food but abundant and tasty one.