For the full report in the ZNet click on this link
Letter from Rome: BERLUSCONI--THE PARTY'S OVER
The party for Berlusconi is really over, and however bland Prodi may appear, he has chalked up his first one hundred days with a rousing success in foreign policy and movement on the home front on the crucial issue of conflict of interest, an election promise which well-known blogger/comedian Beppe Grillo doubted would ever be kept.
Following his coalition's narrow defeat in national general elections last spring and his loss of the presidency to Giorgio Napolitano, Berlusconi flailed about for a time, complaining that he had been cheated, but this came to nothing. Following this was a summer hiatus during which he saw his trio of allies in the Casa della Libertà (CDL, or House of Liberty) slip away from his control.Berlusconi now faces another sobering reality check. On Sept. 15 the center-left government of Premier Roman Prodi will begin a debate in Parliament on a conflict of interest bill which, if passed, would curb Berlusconi's financial clout should he ever be returned to political leadership. The details of the bill are as yet not in the public domain, but Berlusconi's backers are already complaining that he is being persecuted. Without waiting to read it, Berlusconi's official spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti has called the proposed bill "an illiberal attempt to keep Berlusconi from leading the opposition. Secondly, the new Prodi center-left government is reorganizing the Italian national broadcasting company, RAI, and replacing the Berlusconi appointees with individuals considered less tainted. Since Berlusconi is nothing if not a media magnate, the content of the conflict of interest bill will of necessity regard control of the media.
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