No parliament, no government, no president of the republic. And now not even a pope. The situation in Italy resembles a house of cards in a perfect storm.
It’s not just a matter of politicians, scenarios and furniture flying all over the place until the storm subsides. The problem is deeper than that. The new Italian Parliament has three minorities that are unable to form a majority.
It is a power game in which Pier Luigi Bersani, the electoral winner, is the political loser, and the electoral losers, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and ex-comic Beppe Grillo, are the political winners.
Consider this. Almost half of those Italians who cast their ballots for one of the traditional parties switched their vote this time. You think Americans are fed up with Congress? In Italy, trust in the government stands at 5 percent, and trust in Parliament at 8 percent. The rate of abstentions is high. The party holding the majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies -- 54 percent, as required by law -- won the support of just 20 percent of the electorate.
Read more: Italy’s Post-Election Chaos Isn’t What You Think - Bloomberg
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