Italian Premier Minister Berlusconi stated that he is not pleased by the results of the administrative elections, but Moratti’s defeat is due to disinformation and Italian media cartel being against him.

The results at the administrative elections depended on the choice of candidates. Sources close to Silvio Berlusconi report that this was the prime minister’s analysis of the vote at the People of Freedom’s (PDL) president’s office. Mr Berlusconi then added that no political significance should be read into the administrative election results. Whatever the case, he added, “we are on the field” and intend to play, not least because “it would be folly to hand the city to the far Left”. The excitement stirred by leaks from Palazzo Grazioli, which were picked up by most of the news agencies quoting an anonymous source present at the meeting, forced the PM’s spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti to issue a denial: “I was there and the remarks about the second round ascribed to Berlusconi are not true”. Nevertheless, the prime minister himself returned to the topic on the Porta a Porta talk show: “Administrative elections are special, influenced by the choice of candidate, the candidate’s personality and the confrontation with another candidate.

The administrative elections results in Italy displease Berlusconi

Mr Berlusconi went over the administrative elections results again on Bruno Vespa’s talk show, admitting that as far as the PDL was concerned, “we are not satisfied”. Mr Berlusconi said: “We are on 26.42%. Obviously, we are not satisfied but you have to remember the very special voting system. When I went into the booth to vote, they gave me a tablecloth voting paper. I had a hard time finding the PDL among the avalanche of other symbols”. The PM went on: “We in the PDL have no more to complain about than all the other parties that have had setbacks of major proportions. The Democratic Party (PD) has slipped back to 21.86%. It has literally slumped in regions like Campania, Lazio and Calabria whereas it did better in the north”.

Berlusconi  :  Italian Media Cartel against me

Mr Berlusconi said he did not regard the Milan result as a vote against the government he represents and accused what he called a “terrifying media cartel”. “Major newspapers, starting with the Corriere della Sera, the privately owned SKY and La7 television channels and the RAI everybody pays for, are all with the Left”. He added: “Ms Moratti’s defeat is down to media disinformation”.

Voters for De Magistris have no brain

Mr Berlusconi pulled no punches attacking the Centre-left’s second-round challengers. ‘De Magistris is good-looking but totally incompetent. He has no political substance. No one who has a head on his or her shoulders could possibly vote for him. Anyone who votes for him should take a look in the mirror and say ‘I have no brain”. On Pisapia, the PM observed: “He has tabled bills in Parliament to protect terrorists and subversives, and in favour of euthanasia”. According to the prime minister, Mr Pisapia is incapable of running Milan “because has never run so much as a newsstand” while “Moratti, and Lettieri in Naples, have both managed companies with outstanding ability”.

The premier then discussed the state of national politics. “I would like to reassure you that the alliance of the PDL and Northern League is the only alternative and the only government alliance possible. I would like to assure everyone that the government has a strong majority backing it and will see the legislature through to the end, making the reforms that are indispensable”. On the talk show, Mr Berlusconi also revealed that last July “[economy minister – Ed.] Tremonti and the Northern League thought the time was right for an election but my sense of responsibility prompted me to rule this out at a time of global crisis. When ratings agencies continued to believe in us only because of the government’s stability, losing that stability would have meant exposing the country to attacks from international speculators”.

THE GOVERNMENT AND REFORMS – Earlier, Mr Berlusconi had said he was relaxed about the government’s solidity, particularly after the latest vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies on the omnibus decree law, with 313 deputies in favour and 291 against. He claimed there were “two fantastic years of work coming up. At last, with this new majority we can carry out the reforms”, starting with tax reform “so taxpayers are no longer oppressed”. Mr Berlusconi referred specifically to Giulio Tremonti’s remarks, maintaining it was time to do away with “tax clamps”.

“I would be absolutely willing to step down if the moderate area were to reconstitute itself in consequence and there were some individual regarded by the entire moderate area as the only possible leader”. He added: “There’s total bedlam in the PDL every time I bring up the subject of a successor. I think I have everyone’s goodwill and if all Italians knew me, I would have a 100% approval rating. In any case, I am tackling the succession issue. I’m creating a new, very able, governing class. There are some excellent ministers in the government. Names have been bandied about but this is always dangerous, both for those who have been named and for those who haven’t”.

 

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