BookTalk.org

Last Sunday the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, was attacked while he was signing autographs, a bizarre attack which you all probably have seen by now. He has been admitted to the San Raffaele hospital in Milan and he's allowed to leave tomorrow. He suffered a broken nose, several broken teeth and other facial injures. His attacker has apologised. Many Italian politicians and others all over the world have condemned the attack.

Meanwhile, the Italian political world, which was not most stable one to begin with, is shaken once more. The citizens of Italy are divided into two camps: those who are pro-Berlusconi and those who are against him. Some are afraid of a civil war if this continues.

But why?

- Berlusconi's opponents, mostly left-wingers, blame him for his media monopoly - Berlusconi owns news channels such as RAI Uno and is therefore prone to censor a lot. In total it is estimated that Berlusconi controls 90% of Italy's media.
- He has been accused of having ties with the mob, has been prosecuted for all kinds of criminal offences, but his cabinet passed an act concerning the immunity of those in office - which basically means Berlusconi can get away with anything. Some of his attorneys are also in parliament and Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, used to work for him.
- Not to mention his attempts to get young, beautiful women into the European Parliament for Italy, he also seems to entertain himself with them - at least, that's what his (ex-)wife Veronica and his opponents say.
- He also has said some rather shady things, like the following quote: "We must be aware of the superiority of our civilisation, a system that has guaranteed well-being, respect for human rights and - in contrast with Islamic countries - respect for religious and political rights, a system that has as its value understanding of diversity and tolerance". He said this fifteen days after 9/11. And not to forget this one: "I will try to help relations between Russia and the United States where a new generation has come to power. I don't see problems for Medvedev to establish good relations with Obama, because he [Obama] is young, handsome and even tanned, therefore I think that a good cooperation can be developed". He has repeated the 'tan'-joke with an African priest since.
- He is known for his pranks and bizarre actions. When all the leaders of the EU countries were ready to take a picture and walk over the Rhine Bridge, Berlusconi was on the phone with the Turkish Prime Minister, causing the others to wait on him.
(- Berlusconi is close friends with Vladimir Putin, Premier of Russia.)

Should Berlusconi's power be limited?

lottebeertje, I think we should have more discussion of world (vs. just U.S.) politics, so thanks for the post. Constitutionally, what are the options for Italians? Forgive my ignorance, but could the equivalent of the Italian Parliament call for a new election? It appears that Berlusconi is an extremely polarizing figure, having ardent supporters and just as ardent detractors. No one likes to see a "mugging" take place, no matter what the status of the victim. I can't help thinking that had an attack on a politician happened here, there would be a death by gunshot. Perhaps Berlusconi is lucky in that sense. I wonder what the handgun laws are like in Italy.

DWill wrote:lottebeertje, I think we should have more discussion of world (vs. just U.S.) politics, so thanks for the post. Constitutionally, what are the options for Italians? Forgive my ignorance, but could the equivalent of the Italian Parliament call for a new election? It appears that Berlusconi is an extremely polarizing figure, having ardent supporters and just as ardent detractors. No one likes to see a "mugging" take place, no matter what the status of the victim. I can't help thinking that had an attack on a politician happened here, there would be a death by gunshot. Perhaps Berlusconi is lucky in that sense. I wonder what the handgun laws are like in Italy.

I just looked handgun laws in Italy up for you - this is what I found:

Italian citizens do not enjoy a constitutional right to arms, and, unlike the Commonwealth countries, there is no common-law tradition either. Purchase of a firearm requires a police license and registration. As of 1996, there were 757,240 people licensed to possess shotguns for sporting purposes.

Handgun permits are much harder to obtain. Usually, permits are granted to those whom the government decides have a "need" to carry firearms for self-defense, such as jewelers or other persons who carry valuables for business purposes. These licenses have declined from 42,396 in 1996 to 31,850 in 1998.

Italy, however, has a thriving illegal import/export-trade in guns with Albania.

Source: http://www.davekopel.com/2a/Mags/Italy.htm

So that kind of makes it hard to get a gun. I think you're right though, that if an attack had been made on an American politician handguns would definitely have been involved. Maybe it's just a prejudice from my (European) view, but America is a gun-friendly country and many American politicians have been shot in the past. I'm not saying that there have not been tragedies here, but we (as in the European Union) are definitely more wary when it comes to guns. We've been calling for gun registration for a while now and next year the member states decide if they want to invoke the new gun policy. For a more detailed article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/world ... .html?_r=1
And I don't really think that the attacker wanted to kill Berlusconi - which would have caused a riot for sure and made people very, very angry - but merely to get a political message through. What that message was, I have no idea, as the attacker has apologised, saying "I did not know what came over me".
Fact is, the Milan Cathedral has instantly become a desirable souvenir and Christmas present.

I was discussing the other day at history class whether one-man regimes should be allowed next to the democratic multiple-parties government. In my very humble opinion, I'm more pro-democratic government, but if one man proves to be a good leader - he has single-handedly rescued his country from declination, made improvements for his subjects and if he's not corrupt, why should someone like that not be able to lead a country on his own?
Obviously Berlusconi isn't what I would understand as a good leader with all his ties with the mob and his control over the media...

Guns aren't as regulated as motor vehicles are in the U.S., and that is peculiar. Somehow "the right to bear arms shall not be infringed" has come to mean to many that regulation cancels the right, when to me most clearly it doesn't.