When leaders ask for too much

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EDITORIAL

When leaders ask for too much

 

The Nation 20/02/2006

 

Since becoming PM, Silvio Berlusconi has manipulated Italian politics to feed his own incredible wealth. Sound familiar?

 

His critics have likened him to former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, however, prefers to see himself as the new Napoleon Bonaparte of European politics ? although last week he did also compare himself to Jesus Christ. ?I am a patient victim. I put up with everything, I sacrifice myself for everyone,? the controversial premier said.

The main issue now facing Berlusconi though is whether the Italian people will put up with him for another term.

 

Campaigning for parliamentary elections formally got underway in Italy last week, with Berlusconi unleashing another of the glitzy media campaigns that took him to power five stormy years ago.

 

The centre and left-wing opposition parties, for their part, unveiled an election manifesto that promised to undo much of the media tycoon?s legacy. Led by former EU commission president Romano Prodi, the opposition promised bills to tighten the rules on conflict of interest and reverse legislation on immigration and drugs. It also pledged to cut employers? tax contributions while increasing the take-home pay of the average employee as part of a plan to breathe life into the country?s moribund economy.

 

Another key promise is to change the constitution to ensure it could only be amended by a substantial, cross-party majority following years in which Berlusconi repeatedly tampered with the charter.

 

Constitutional reform, conflicts of interest, abuse of power, bending the law for political and personal gain. If the issues sound familiar to those being debated in Thailand it is because Berlusconi is actually far more like our own Thaksin Shinawatra than he is to Napoleon, Jesus Christ or even Mussolini.

 

The similarities have been well documented, ranging from their shared ?richest man in the land? tag, their parallel business interests, to their shared desire to own a big football team. (Berlusconi owns AC Milan. Thaksin wanted Liverpool.) Like Thaksin, Berlusconi has earned the distinction of heading the longest-serving democratic government in his country?s history. His record during those years however suggests he doesn?t deserve a second term. Berlusconi came to power promising to get things done. Like Thaksin, he said he was too rich to be corrupt. But his first term suggests his primary motivation for getting involved in politics was to protect his business interests.

 

Since 2001, the Italian government has passed a string of laws and implemented policies that have had a direct impact on the finance, commerce, property, publishing, advertising, media and football interests owned by Berlusconi. In one case, the government passed media-reform legislation that increased the maximum limit on an individual?s share of the media market, allowing Berlusconi to retain control of his three national television channels. The law was initially vetoed by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, on charges of being anti-constitutional. But it was nevertheless forced into law by the parliament.

 

Such abuse of the legislature to suit Berlusconi?s ends has been systematic, ranging from changes to the constitution down to local land-use laws. Deploying his substantial majority in parliament, he altered the law in 2003 to give high-ranking state officials (such as the prime minister) legal exemptions. And six months before this April?s general election he introduced a wide-ranging series of electoral ?reforms? to undermine the opposition?s chances.

 

In his first poll win, Berlusconi?s supporters brushed off questions about his bribing of tax officials, his connections to underworld figures and his general disdain for the letter of the law by alluding to Italians? traditional suspicion of authority and the business mogul?s can-do attitude. As in Thailand, the belief this ?self-made? tycoon was going to make everyone else rich overwhelmed concerns about his probity.

 

Berlusconi has shown that Italians got it wrong. The Italian economy ? one of the biggest in the world ? has reported little growth under Berlusconi while his own companies have prospered. Perhaps worse, he has helped entrench the old attitudes of disrespect for laws, institutions and the courts. Berlusconi claimed he stood for something new, even as he hailed the fascists of old as heroes. But he doesn?t stand for anything except his own interests, and Italians should show him the door. It would set a good example for elsewhere.