Will Berlusconi be the next Italian President?

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It is election time in Italy, where for the past seven years the President Sergio Mattarella had to withstand one of the worst periods of the Italian Republic. This includes the COVID pandemic as well as the rise and fall of different questionable governments. In the candidates, the shortlist has recently appeared the name of Silvio Berlusconi. It was nominated by the Italian conservator party as their official candidate, and their decision generated a series of debates and indignations from other parties.

First off, Italy is not the Presidential Republic like the United States and France. The role of the Italian President is as a “neutral” power, it carries out a surveillance and coordination function, according to the rules established by the Italian Constitution. The closest thing to the United States President or the British Prime Minister is a role called President of the Council, a position held now by Mario Draghi.

With that being said, will Berlusconi be the next Italian President?

Berlusconi at the moment does not have enough voters and supporters to become President, the only chance he could get elected is if the majority of the Italian far-right voted for him without any opponents in their party (which is almost impossible due to the candidate’s political story).

Why was he chosen a candidate though? There are two theories and one is worst than the other one.

1. According to the Italian Journalist Antonio Polito, the candidature of Berlusconi was a decision made without thinking. Italian politics seems to have stopped again at a moment of twenty-eight years ago, when the same man, then still in his fifties, changed the course of national history. This regained but now anachronistic centrality, also a sign of the immaturity of a center-right who in the meantime has not managed to give himself any other identity.
2. The far-right choose Berlusconi to make him retire during the election and choose a different candidate that compared to him will look eligible to attract votes even from the Italian Left.

Whatever reasons are behind this candidature it is undeniably a misstep of the Italian government that allowed a man sentenced multiple times to be on the shortlist for the Presidential Election. It is inevitably a symbol of conservative politics that is run by older privileged people unable to reinvent themselves and give voices to young people.

Conservative parties linked to the big capitalists like far-right parties spread like the plague all over the world, but they will fall in a few decades. Young people no longer tolerate decisions imposed from above by privileged people who protect their interests without knowing the current state of affairs.

Before ending this article, I thought it was interesting to list what Silvio Berlusconi did during his years in the government, a recap could give you an insight on why his candidature was so wrong. This list was written by “Avvocathy” a Law firm specializing in infotainment.

1. In 1978 was part of the Masonic Organization P2, whose mission was to organize a golpe in Italy.
2. In 1994 Berlusconi tries to get a law passed to avoid prison for the financial crimes of corruption, crimes committed by politicians who are friends of his.
3. In 1994 Berlusconi passes a law that allows his media company to save 243 billion in taxes
4. In 2001 Berlusconi he is responsible for various laws “ad personam” which means he created laws to help specific people like Mafiosi and corrupted politicians.
5. He was accused of drug trafficking, mafia association, defamation, corruption, and tax evasion.

The list, unfortunately, goes on.

Thank you for your time,

Federico