But who voted for Berlusconi?
As Mario Monti’s service had come to an end,
the people of Italy had the chance to express their will during a two-day long
election on the 24th and 25th of February. After the long years of an economic,
political and social crisis, Italy should have deserved a better outcome, however
it seems like that the upcoming years will only bring a more complicated
situation, at least from a political viewpoint. Despite the fact that the
center-left alliance gained the most votes, none of the parties won this
election. While the number of voters fell drastically, the nation was divided
into several different political parties and groups. Just to summarize in brief
words the latest parliamentary elections: the center-left lead by Bersani and
the center-right lead by Berlusconi almost head to head; the revolution of
Beppe Grillo’s 5star movement, the failure of Monti and an ungovernable Italy.
Without adjudicating political parties and
movements from the right, there is one crucial question in this country which
emerged just after the results of last night: Who voted for Berlusconi??
After the initial projections were revealed, my
fb wall was suddenly flooded by posts full of despair, incomprehension and
anger. Everybody was looking for answers, however hardly anyone could provide
an adequate explanation, why almost one-third of the voters decided to choose
again the grand old man of Italian politics. Below, you can find some memorable
posts from my fellow Italian mates /and sorry guys for the inaccurate
translation/:
„Did those who voted for Berlusconi know, that
today and yesterday we voted for the President of the Council and not for the
pope?” (the mitico Luca from Verona)
„After I have seen the projections, I know that
I will remain in Hungary...” (Jesus, an Italian Erasmus student in my hometown)
„29% Pdl-Lega. Compatriots, do not squash each
other in front of the borders. Let’s make well-organized rows” (Laura,
ex-erasmus in Hungary)
„It’s normal that Berlusconi and his allies
managed to get 30% of the votes. (...) In that 30% percent you can find
entrepreneurs, investors, businessman, managers of multinational companies,
friends, relatives, employees of Mediaset and Mondadori, people who live from
entertainment. Furthermore old people
without internet, young people born in the 90’s who see him as a potential
second Mussolini, councilors and mayors who buy votes and even Mafia members
who imbue terror and force people to vote for him. There are also superficial
people, uninformed or undecided Italians who are voting for a rampant friend or
the cousin of the neighbor who called them the day before and wished them happy
Christmas (...)” (the explanation of Gabriele, an Erasmus student from Szeged)
Not being an Italian I would not like to judge
this nation, however as a student of international relations living in Milan, I
must have some remarks on the internal political situation.
According to an old rule of politics, it’s
always the ruling party or coalition which looses an election and not the party
in opposition who wins it. This rule was applied here as well: the government
of professor Monti failed, even though none of the adverse parties could
celebrate last night. In this case I would say that the probable winner
center-left alliance could have done much more to gain power and it seems like
that their communication was quite ineffective. On the contrary the third
strongest party, the 5 star movement of Beppe Grillo which emerged from almost
nothing, has managed to attract a huge mass of dissatisfied Italians, reaching
almost one-quarter of the votes. Nevertheless, one of the greatest lessons of
this election was the following: many citizens of the Italian Republic have a
really short memory (but this not just applies to Italians). They have already
forgotten the scandals of Berlusconi and his ineffective governance which made
this country the part of PIIGS, with one of the highest external debt rate in
Europe. As one old saying affirms: “panem et circenses” – Bread an circus!
Berlusconi took this advice and promised the wonderland for the „poor” Italian
nation (inter alia he bought Balotelli for Milan and he promised to reimburse
Italians the special tax, called IMU, imposed by the government of Monti).
Looks like his populist promises successfully reached one part of the nation. According
to many others this will just prolong the struggle of the one-time flourishing
country.
Fortunately or not, I will be the eyewitness of
this modern-time political circus J
