Exit Polls Say Italy Has Dropped Berlusconi

Exit polls in Italy have a habit of not quite matching the final results. However, as balloting in the two-day election came to an end today, the exit polls suggested that Romano Prodi’s center-left coalition had defeated Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right ruling coalition. If this holds up, Italy’s Berlusconi-itis will have been cured by a Prime Minister-ectomy.

Mr. Berlusconi is far from a favorite in these pages. A billionaire who controls much of the Italian media, he has abused his position to ensure the continuation of his hold on Italian TV and to avoid prosecutions for past business actions. He is, simply, unfit to lead a democratic nation of any size and has so proved himself.

The winner of the election appears to be former economics professor Prodi. However, he has a bit of a problem in the composition of his coalition. It includes everything from Roman Catholic centrists to the Communist Party. Holding that together in office while dealing effectively with the lethargic Italian economy will prove something of a challenge, requiring something of a miracle.

This was not an enlightened campaign by any means. Professor Prodi said in last week’s TV debate, “ The prime minister clings to data in the way a drunkard clings to lamp-posts - not for illumination, but to keep him standing up.” The PM said of Professor Prodi “Prodi is like a useful idiot - he lends his cheery parish priest face to the left, which is 70% made up of former communists.” Apparently, American talk radio has rivals in the political insult department.

If the exit polls are right, the center-left’s manifesto will become government policy. As Reuters reported, “The manifesto pledges to cut labor taxes, provide bigger handouts for families with children, reintroduce an inheritance tax, scrap plans to raise the age of retirement to 60 and launch a crackdown on tax evasion. On foreign policy, Prodi has vowed a swift withdrawal of Italian troops sent to Iraq by Berlusconi, who is one of US President George W. Bush's closest allies in Europe.” However, the most important thing is the removal of the richest man from the most powerful office in the country. It is merely a bad idea to combine the power of money with the power of the state in a single individual.

© Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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