Word: berlusconis
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...Italian politics, turning everything on its head is the preferred method for keeping everything standing in place. Just 21 months after Romano Prodi knocked Silvio Berlusconi out of the Prime Minister's office, Italy is once again heading toward elections. And who do polls say will be the next Prime Minister? Silvio Berlusconi, of course...
...temporary ruling coalition to usher in much-needed electoral reform - the Italian Parliament is expected to be dissolved on Wednesday, and national elections scheduled in April. Though his allies have insisted for the past two years that it's time for new leadership on the Italian center-right, Berlusconi will again be its candidate, for the fifth time in 14 years (with two wins, two losses under his belt). Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, who once served as Prodi's No. 2, is expected to lead the center-left...
...Berlusconi's lead in voter surveys says more about dissatisfaction with his opponents than any widespread hope that the once maverick leader will be able to lift Italy out of what all now acknowledge is a nationwide funk. Indeed, with Italians set to vote under the old electoral law, whoever wins will almost certainly encounter the same problems Prodi did in governing effectively and keeping his coalition from crumbling. Some say the best hope is a virtual tie, which would force a "grande coalizione" composed of major parties from both sides...
...Still, the looming Berlusconi-Veltroni showdown does have the virtue of presenting a stark contrast between two very different politicians. The 71-year-old center-right leader hails from the industrial north, having made his mark as a real estate mogul and media entrepreneur, and becoming Italy's richest man. Berlusconi came into politics in 1994 billed as the ultimate outsider, scoffing at Rome's stuffy establishment and passing his downtime singing Neapolitan love ballads and frequenting his palatial villa in Sardinia's Porto Cervo. His refusal to resolve a gargantuan conflict of interest, as owner of Italy's three...
...electoral law (with a vote to follow several months later). "There is still a small margin for success," the would-be Prime Minister announced. "I see it. And for this we must see it through." But that won't happen without at least the tacit acquiescence of Silvio Berlusconi. Perhaps Marini's most important meeting Friday was with neither a Senator nor Member of Parliament. It was with Gianni Letta, Berlusconi's right-hand...