Perché gli Italiani sostengono ancora Berlusconi?
[Sotto il post in Italiano]
The news that 74 years old Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under investigation for child prostitution and abuse of power has been on all international news for almost two weeks now. That’s not a problem only for his image, it is especially for his country. The foreign press is not jut ridiculing him, but is starting to do that with Italians as well. Mister Berlusconi, however, has declared that he won’t resign.
Over almost two decades his political career has been accompanied by a series of scandals that span from bribery, to tax-evasions, from links with the mafia, to (presumably) sex with minors. He has always been able to get his way with the judges, with the help of his lawyers (who are also parliamentarians), his party and sadly, a non-credible opposition.
But why do Italians still forgive his behavior?
Well, over one third of Italians didn’t vote at all in the last elections, and another third voted for the opposing parties. A recent poll has showed that nearly 50% of Italians want his resignation. However, the surprising part is that there still is a 30% who support his party, a large number of people considering everything. But why? The answer is simple: misinformation.
Even though the documents released by the prosecution office define an horrifying scenario of wild parties and prostitution held in his own house, on the national television and newspaper scene the majority of journalists and politicians keep on claiming that it’s all an invention of the magistrates, while the few ones who go against him are slaughtered by his televisions. Let’s not forget that he owns three private television channels, as well as a few newspapers and magazines, and controls through political power much of the public television service. He owns the party, too. He is always the one who gets nominated as prime minister and is always the one who gets elected. That’s the reason why he is not being isolated. The opposition should be compact against him, while it isn’t, and is unable to present a strong candidate to fight him. Sadly, this is one of the main reasons why Berlusconi lasted for so long. Finally, he has a strong ally (the North League) that has allowed him to win the last elections.
The Church has received many tax-cuts and favors from his government, and even at a time when it cannot avoid from criticizing his behavior, it does it very timidly. Much of the elite class still prefers to have someone like Berlusconi than someone from the left.
However, I think that there is a reason for optimism. With the web, much of the disinformation spread out by his televisions is being fought and especially the young people are acting and rising up to protest against his undignified use of the institutional figure. There are also many journalists who are still doing their job.
Berlusconi will probably never go to prison, but maybe his political influence is about to come to an end. If he falls, the damage created by his policies of women objectification and private use of government won’t go away any time soon. It will take years for the country to return to normal, but in this period of crisis I see some good signs, and that calls for hope.
La notizia che il 74enne Presidente del Consiglio Silvio Berlusconi è indagato per prostituzione minorile e concussione è su tutta la stampa internazionale. Questo non è un problema solo per la sua immagine, lo è soprattutto per il suo paese. La stampa estera non sta ridicolizzando soltanto lui, ma sta cominciando a farlo anche con gli italiani. Il signor Berlusconi, tuttavia, ha dichiarato che non si dimetterà.
Per quasi due decenni la sua carriera politica è stata costellata da scandali che vanno dalla corruzione, all’evasione fiscale, dai rapporti con la mafia, al (presunto) sesso con minori. E’ sempre riuscito a fuggire dai giudici, anche con l’aiuto dei suoi avvocati (che sono anche parlamentari), il suo partito e, purtroppo, un’opposizione non credibile.
Ma perché gli italiani continuano a perdonare il suo comportamento?
Beh, più di un terzo degli Italiani non ha votato nelle ultime elezioni, ed un altro terzo ha votato per i partiti di opposizione. Un recente sondaggio ha mostrato che quasi il 50% degli italiani vuole le sue dimissioni. Tuttavia, la parte sorprendente è che c’è ancora un 30% che sostiene il suo partito, un gran numero di persone considerando tutto. Come si spiega tutto ciò? La risposta è semplice: disinformazione.
Anche se i documenti rilasciati dalla procura di Milano marcano un terrificante scenario di feste sfrenate e prostituzione, nelle televisioni e giornali nazionali la maggior parte dei giornalisti e politici continuano a sostenere che è tutta un’invenzione dei magistrati, mentre i pochi che vanno contro di lui vengono massacrati dalle sue televisioni. Non dimentichiamo che lui possiede tre canali televisivi privati, così come giornali e riviste, e controlla attraverso il potere politico gran parte del servizio televisivo pubblico. E’ anche praticamente padrone del suo partito. Lui è sempre quello che viene nominato come primo ministro, ed è sempre quello che viene eletto. Questo è il motivo per cui non è stato mai isolato. L’opposizione dovrebbe essere compatta contro di lui, mentre non lo è, e non è in grado di presentare un candidato forte per combatterlo. Purtroppo, questo è uno dei principali motivi per cui Berlusconi è durato così a lungo. Infine, ha un forte alleato (la Lega Nord) che gli ha permesso di vincere le ultime elezioni.
La Chiesa ha ricevuto molti sgravi fiscali e favori dal suo governo, e anche in un momento in cui non può non criticare il suo comportamento, lo fa molto timidamente. Gran parte della classe dirigente del paese preferisce ancora avere al governo qualcuno come Berlusconi che qualcuno di sinistra.
Tuttavia, credo che ci sia anche una motivo per essere ottimisti. Con il web, una buona parte della disinformazione diffusa dalle sue televisioni viene combattuta, ed in particolare i giovani stanno agendo e protestando contro il suo uso indegno della figura istituzionale che ricopre. Per fortuna ci sono anche molti giornalisti che stanno ancora facendo bene il loro lavoro.
Berlusconi probabilmente non andrà mai in galera, ma forse la sua influenza politica sta per finire. Se cade, il danno creato dalla sua politica di mercificazione delle donne e di uso privato delle istituzioni non andrà via presto. Ci vorranno anni per restituire la normalità al paese, ma in questo periodo di crisi io vedo alcuni segnali positivi, e questo è sicuramente un buon segno.
Tags: Annozero, David Mills, Italia, Marco Travaglio, Michele Santoro, pensiero critico, Roberto Saviano, Silvio Berlusconi
You must know Italy or have to be italian to understand why we still want Berlusconi , and these are the reasons:
This is the only government in our history capable to change old laws and habets, the opposition is still comunist, they have no ideas or affordable people, their hate against Berlusconi makes forgetting that pratically here there is no justice considering that a trial takes up to 15 years to be made, some judges (we know that for experience) have comunist ideas.
Also the opposition let uncontrolled immigration, stopped the changing of bankrupt law which is really barbarian, the opposition stopped buiding atomic electricity generetors,closed the prostitution houses so now we have any sort of prostituts in the streets,sex liberation, abortion .
Belusconi is spending his money, he is noe using his television against the opposition like they are doing on televisions payed by all the italians, and abroad they beleave only what they read on newspapers.
Dear Giuseppe,
I actually am Italian, and I grew up in Italy. Just now I am living abroad. Your answer is interesting, even though I hear this over and over on television, but unfortunately nobody ever replies.
* Which old laws and habits have been changed?
* I agree with you on the opposition, indeed I wrote it. They are not able to present a serious candidate against Berlusconi. Just because Berlusconi calls everybody communist doesn’t mean that there are actually communist there. Who would the communists be? Bersani, D’Alema, Veltroni? Veltroni was the one who wouldn’t even pronounce the name of Berlusconi during the last elections (‘he was calling him the major candidate of the opposing party’). An opposition like this there is always pleasant for who governs. Plus, this farce of calling everybody communist is laughable, when he is the first one to be friends and make deal with one of them: Vladimir Putin. If Berlusconi hates communists so much, why is he such a friend with a dictator like Putin?
* True, a trial takes a long time. But whose interest is for trials to last as long as possible, so that hopefully, they go to prescription? Berlusconi himself has 5 prescriptions. When you ask yourself why in Italy there is no justice, because trials last longer, do you think that it’s in the interest of a government lead by Bearlusconi to have trials that last less? He has the power to propose laws to shorten the time of trials. Why hasn’t he done it? Remember that in 2008 he had the highest majority in the history of the Italian Republic.
* The judges you talk about, who would have “communist ideas” are coincidentally always the same ones that investigate Berlusconi. The Bocassini would be communist because she applies the law, even when is against Berlusconi? I saw many attacks against her these days, but nobody remembers that she constantly fought against the mafia in Palermo and against the ‘ndrangheta in Milan, and worked with people such as Giovanni Falcone. She even saved the life of Berlusconi once. But of course, Libero and Il Giornale fail to remember that.
* Berlusconi always says that he has the trust of the Italians, but when he wants to build nuclear plants in Italy he fails to remember that the Italians have voted against nuclear power in a referendum in 1987.
* Could you please tell me in which other western country there is a prime minister who owns three television channels? Plus, which programs do you refer to when you talk about television payed by all the Italians? Annozero? Report? I don’t see Berlusconi screaming against Porta a Porta, or the scandalous TG1 of Minzolini, and those are programs payed by all the Italians. Annozero and Report have always been attacked by the left as well. Amnesty Internation has put Italy in the category of “partly-free”. What does that tell you?
* Finally, In 2008 Berlusconi was the first to sign a bill against prostitution especially when the prostitutes were underage? Why it didn’t get approved? Maybe because the scandals of Noemi, Patrizia d’addario and Ruby came along?