The meaning of Berlusconi’s victory
Vincent Chiarello writes:
Understated in Reuter’s account of the sweeping electoral victory by Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia Party in Italy is the current self-inflicted destruction and cannibalizing of the Italian Left. Berlusconi’s opponent, the Mayor of Rome, is a major force in the Italian Socialist Party; nevertheless, he was soundly defeated, an indication that even in Socialist Rome, all is not well on the Left.
Berlusconi and Gianfranco Fini, the two major politicians of the Italian Right, also were able to capitalize on the rampant dissatisfaction within the Italian electorate regarding what is seen as serious inflation—even by Italian standards—by the adoption of the euro. Former PM Romano Prodi had hitched his wagon to the EU engine, calling for more, not less, regulation from Brussels, which would bring even greater inflation. But the defection of the Catholic Party caused Prodi’s very fragile coalition to fall apart, but, if one asks, even rhetorically, why such a party would ally itself to the Left, there is no logical answer.
Beyond cavil, however, is that unfettered immigration from North Africa and Eastern Europe were the causative factors in Berlusconi’s victory. The bludgeoning to death of the wife of an Italian admiral, which I’ve discussed earlier, was the cause celebre that Berlusconi seized to rid Italy of those there illegally. The almost daily arrival—through Sicily—of thousands of “boat people” from the Maghreb, has created unsafe zones in major Italian cities, so much so that last year a proposal to build “a Berlin wall” within ten urban areas was proposed—by Socialist mayors. Added to that witch’s brew, the arrival of Albanians and Rumanians, many of whom are involved in crime, some of it violent, has finally brought to light the dangers that too many of these new arrivals pose. I can personally attest to the fact that Rome was one of the safest cities in the world before the arrival of the Albanian crime syndicates. Both of these factors—inflation and immigration—were the primary reasons for the Berlusconi victory. Finally a word about a man to watch: Umberto Bossi.
When I arrived at U.S. Embassy Rome twenty years ago, Umberto Bossi was considered a “madman” by most embassy staffers. With his founding of Lega Lombarda (The Lombard League), which morphed into Lega del Nord (Northern League), and finally into Padania, Bossi has remained the titular and spiritual head of the party whose aim is to rid Italy of unwanted and unassimilable foreigners. Bossi, who suffered a serious stroke several years ago—during which time his party was unusually quiescent—has begun to exercise his influence again, and it goes without saying that he will keep Berlusconi’s feet to the fire regarding immigration. I believe that the PM knows, and agrees, that such a cleansing is needed; the devil will be in the details. Given the current weakness of the Italian Left, this will be a propitious moment for the Right in Europe to show its mettle. There is a lot riding on the outcome.
Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 18, 2008 10:35 PM | Send