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