“Political deadlock” – this is what world mass media called the results of parliamentary elections, which were recently held in Italy. After two days of voting, the center-left Democratic Party of Italy led by Pier Luigi Bersani gained minimum victory in the lower house of the parliament. However, they did not get the majority in the Senate. To rule the country a political force should gain majority in both houses of the parliament.
Sixty-one-year-old Bersani is often called a direct antipode of the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and an “experienced politician.” Until the 1990s he was a functionary of the Communist Party of Italy and after the collapse of the Soviet Union he joined the Democrats. Before the elections Bersani promised to continue the reforms started by Mario Monti’s government. Besides, as the leader of the Democratic Party he believes that one should spare wisely not to bring Italy to extremes.
The campaign of the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who served three terms, has been extremely active. However, he lost only a few percent to his opponent, gaining 29.18 percent of the votes. At the same time, according to the Euronews report: “Among the inconclusive results of the Italian election, there was one undoubted winner. The Five Star Movement led by the comedian, satirist and blogger Beppe Grillo emerged as the third force in Italian politics with a quarter of the vote.” The first of the election campaign promises of Grillo was cutting parliamentary salaries by half.
Instead, the former premier technocrat Mario Monti, leading a bloc of centrist parties, gained 10.5 percent of votes and ranked fourth. Earlier Monti has already stated that he would not enter a coalition with the “old communists,” hinting at Bersani. In his turn, the leader of the Democratic Party said that he would not enter the power union with neither Grillo, nor Berlusconi.
General Director of Bruno Leoni Institute Alberto MINGARDI in his comment to The Day said that he sees two ways of forming a parliamentary majority. According to him, either the left party will unite with Mr. Grillo’s party, or they will win support of the right, that is Berlusconi’s party. “Both variants are equally disgusting to the people, who voted for the center-left, but the second option could, indeed, make it possible to form limited agenda for the conclusion of common commitments. A coalition of the left party and Grillo might turn out to be somewhat exotic, just like the concern about economic policy. However, nobody wants to watch this show,” said Mr. Mingardi.
At the same time, while estimating the results of Berlusconi at the elections Mingardi noted that he lost many votes if we would compare it with the elections in 2008. “But he continues to be just as active and he managed to get a good result. At the present moment many are scared of the prospect of Bersani’s playing his part in the government and the further tax increases,” continued Mingardi. According to him, in the past Italians voted for Berlusconi with enthusiasm. This time it was different. “People voted for him only because they had to choose the lesser of two evils as it often happens,” summed up the expert.
Journalist and analyst of the Institute for International Affairs (Rome) Giampiero GRAMAGLIA told The Day about the situation with the elections and the victory of Berlusconi:
“The results of the elections are disappointing regarding Italian stability and the situation in the near future. There is no distinct majority in the Senate and there are no prospects for a coalition at this point to form government.
“These results can be characterized by two features: it is the success of populist movement led by Grillo and it marks the return of the former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi.”
The elections showed that nobody got a complete victory. What does it mean for Italy?
“This is the main issue now. Of course, the President of the Italian Republic Mr. Giorgio Napolitano after consultations with political leaders will make a decision about who would form the government. According to the Italian Constitution, the president appoints the prime minister, who must win the support of the Parliament. But at this point it is difficult to figure out who will be the next prime minister of Italy. Mr. Bersani, leader of the Democratic Party, may well become the one. However, there is no absolute certainty in this, as well as in the fact that he would be capable of forming a coalition and winning the trust of the government. Political future of Italy is rather uncertain and this fact already has a negative effect on the economy and financial markets.”
Many experts say that these elections became a “political deadlock” for Italy. What would you say about it? Will politicians be able to reach a consensus so that there would be no need for another round of elections?
“It is an interesting question! In the past we sometimes were amazed at Italian political imagination – the ability of the politicians to find solutions and consent, form alliance. Now, it seems impossible to find any solutions for them [politicians. – Ed.]. However, we cannot now say for sure that in the next government there would be no common decisions, agreement, or alliance.”
In your opinion, why Silvio Berlusconi managed to achieve such result?
“To be honest, I asked this myself after the election. But I have no good answer for you. At first I was surprised and then shocked. Now I can’t find an explanation why he had such success and received support of a large part of Italian voters. It is true that about 30 percent of Italians voted for him. During the election campaign, Berlusconi gave many promises, which would be hard to fulfill. At the same time, if he keeps his word it will have a negative impact on the Italian economy. However, 30 percent of the population believed his promises. I don’t even know how to explain this. It is also a big mystery for me.”
Does Berlusconi have any, even phantom chance to sit again in premier’s chair?
“I don’t think so. Although, he had a better result at these elections than anyone could expect he still did not win them. Besides, I don’t see any ways to form a coalition. Even if there would be a large coalition (in which I don’t believe) between Berlusconi, Bersani, and the former Prime Minister Monti, it should be led by a completely different person and not one of these three leaders.”
