Word: berlusconis
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...Since he burst onto the scene in 1991 - claiming a national identity for "Padania," his name for the comparatively rich regions around the Po River Valley from Turin to Venice - Bossi has exhibited a knack for both vulgarity and political agility. Having gradually recovered from a stroke suffered during Berlusconi's last term, he led his party to 8% of the vote in the April elections. That makes the Northern League stronger now than it has been in years, currently posting four Cabinet ministers, including Interior Minister Roberto Maroni...
...Cabinet minister who flips off the national anthem? Certainly not a statesman - nor a reliable political partner. By waving his middle finger Sunday while barking out a verse of Il Canto degli Italiani, Italy's Reforms Minister Umberto Bossi raised real questions about the long-term viability of Silvio Berlusconi's center-right ruling coalition...
...Northern League party that Bossi leads has long flirted with secession, even while he and his lieutenants have served key ministerial posts in three governments of the Italian Republic. But his latest act of national scorn has brought down the fury of Berlusconi's other key ally, lower-house president Gianfranco Fini, whose post-Fascist past makes him the leader of the most explicitly patriotic faction in the three-month-old government. "A Cabinet minister cannot offend national sentiment," Fini proclaimed on Monday, demanding that Bossi "clarify" his thoughts. Bossi bit back quickly, saying that Fini would have been better...
...expect that the episode will lead to a lasting split in the coalition. But it is an ominous sign that the current government may well follow the pattern of Berlusconi's last term (2001-2006), in which internecine battles among coalition partners of convenience perpetually hindered enacting real reform...
...Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hasn't commented on the Englaro case, but a top conservative ally, Italian Senate President Renato Schifani, introduced a motion to see if the court overstepped its authority. Italy does not have any right-to-die or living-will laws on the books...