Italy has enough problems already: does it really need Silvio Berlusconi once again?
ITALY is notorious for its perpetually changing governments. Between 1981 and 2007, it had 16 prime ministers, including some repeats, compared with Britain's four. Yet lately Italian politics had acquired a patina of stability. Under pressure from voters, its fissiparous parties had coalesced into recognisable blocks of right and left. The centre-right government of Silvio Berlusconi (pictured right) served a full five-year term; when the media tycoon was defeated at the polls by the centre-left in April 2006, the hope was that Romano Prodi (on the left) would also see out his term. It was not to be. The upheaval triggered two weeks ago, when a tiny centrist party quit Mr Prodi's coalition, unseated the prime minister when he lost a vote of confidence in the Senate. After consultations, the Italian president this week has asked Franco Marini, speaker of the Senate, to form a short-term interim government. But Mr Berlusconi, hungry for power, is baying for an election as soon as possible. His commanding lead in the opinion polls suggests he would win, and return to Palazzo Chigi just 20 months after he left it.
Note EU-Digest: The return of Berlusconi would not only bring economic and political disaster to Italy, but also drag the EU into the woes of Italy this divisive man would bring to it again.
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