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| Europe |
| Berlusconi Expelled From Senate in Italy |
| 2013-11-28 |
| [NY Times] Having spent months manufacturing procedural delays or conjuring political melodrama in hopes of saving himself, Silvio Berlusconi ...former Italian prime minister, known for his plain (for a European politician) speaking and his liking for hookers a third his age or less... on Wednesday could no longer stave off the inevitable: Italia's Senate resoundingly stripped him of his parliamentary seat, a dramatic and humiliating expulsion, even as other potential troubles await him. In the hours before the vote, Italian senators read speeches for or against Mr. Berlusconi, the powerful former prime minister. Mr. Berlusconi responded with an outdoor rally in central Rome, transforming the day into a televised, split-screen standoff: On one side was the former prime minister, declaring himself a victim of persecution and pledging to remain a political force; on the other was the Senate, with a majority of rival politicians, who finished their speeches and lowered the boom. His expulsion was confirmed through a series of votes, and after a day of passionate arguments, the reaction in the chamber was striking after the final tally: silence. "I think we are at a crossroads today," Senator Gianfranco Casini said during the speeches before the vote. "However it goes, a 20-year period is concluded." Mr. Berlusconi, 77, is now staring at a cascade of stubborn realities. His removal from the Senate means that he is without elective office for the first time in roughly two decades and that he has lost the special immunities awarded to politicians. With other legal cases underway against him -- and the possibility that new litigation will be filed -- Mr. Berlusconi is now far more vulnerable than he was when, as prime minister, he seemed virtually untouchable, swatting away sex and corruption scandals. He is also expected to soon start performing community service for the tax fraud conviction that forms the basis for his removal from the Senate. Moreover, a court in Milan has ruled that Mr. Berlusconi cannot seek any public office for the next two years. For a man who once dominated Italia with a ribald swagger, Mr. Berlusconi is suddenly a sharply reduced figure, having recently watched several of his longtime lieutenants break away from him. Determined to show his political viability, Mr. Berlusconi bused in supporters from around Italia for the rally outside his palace in central Rome. They waved flags, braved the November cold and sang songs hailing their leader. "It's just unfair that they would condemn him when Parliament is full of people who are way worse than him, who have avoided taxes, stolen public money and worked against the people," said Alessandra Abbate, 49, a supporter from Bologna. "This country would be nothing without him." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 He's 77. I think he has won. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2013-11-28 08:59 |