Politics Successors of Berlusconi (Pdl)

julia90

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Berlusconi Says He May Step Down in 2013 By RACHEL DONADIO ROME

The Italian prime minister said that he may not seek reelection, and mentioned a possible successor in the current justice minister. ROME — The lower house of Italy’s Parliament on Wednesday approved a measure intended to speed up Italy’s notoriously slow justice system, bringing the country into line with European standards but possibly ending several trials pending against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The legislation, which is also expected to pass in the Senate, is a victory for Mr. Berlusconi. He has put justice reform at the center of his political agenda as he fights corruption charges and allegations that he paid an under-age woman for sex, and also fights to hold together his motley center-right coalition. Mr. Berlusconi, 74, also said Tuesday in remarks that were reported on Wednesday that he might not seek re-election as prime minister in Italy’s next national elections in 2013. Mr. Berlusconi had said before that he would most likely not run in 2013 — and analysts said he would retain his grip on Italy — but his remarks seemed to be an acknowledgment of an impending new chapter in his political life. The measure approved on Wednesday would place a three-year limit on trials in which the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 10 years. It would allow another two years for the first appeal and one and a half years for the second and final appeal. For more serious crimes, trials can last as long as 10 years. The European Union has repeatedly reprimanded Italy for the sluggishness of its courts. But the center-left opposition and many Italians have criticized the reform as aimed at easing Mr. Berlusconi’s own personal legal woes rather than addressing the most pressing issues facing the country. If it passes, the law is expected to end a trial that began in 2006 in which Mr. Berlusconi is accused of bribing a British lawyer, David Mills, in exchange for his withholding testimony. Mr. Mills was convicted by two lower courts but did not face prison because the statute of limitations ran out. Mr. Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing. In a rare meeting with members of the foreign press on Tuesday, the prime minister made clear how important justice reform — and his own trials — were to his political agenda. Mr. Berlusconi said that he was reluctant to have Italy join the allied intervention in Libya, given his “cordial” relations with its leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, with whom he had forged a personal bond over the years. But he knew there was no choice but for Italy to allow the use of its United States and NATO air bases. In 2008 Italy signed a friendship treaty with Libya, a former colony with which it maintains close economic ties. Mr. Berlusconi said that joining the coalition had been so difficult for him that at one point he considered it grounds for him to resign, but his advisers cautioned against it. “And so I decided to stay,” he said. His comments came during a wide-ranging discussion over a four-hour dinner with foreign journalists here. The dinner was billed as off the record, but a detailed account was published by the Italian news agency ANSA, and later in other Italian media outlets, effectively releasing other journalists from their commitment. Mr. Berlusconi said that he planned to serve until 2012. After that, he said he did not foresee himself having “an active role in government” but rather serving as an elder statesman in an advisory role. He said that he would consult polls before deciding, but that he was inclined toward entrusting the leadership of his party, the People of Liberty, to some current ministers, including Justice Minister Angelino Alfano, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini. Without naming him, Mr. Berlusconi singled out Mr. Alfano, 40, who has championed the justice reform package, as a possible candidate for prime minister. Speaking of the future of his party, Mr. Berlusconi said, “You met him here,” alluding to Mr. Alfano, who had met with a group of foreign journalists this month. Mr. Berlusconi added that he had “no, no, no intention” of running for president of Italy, and instead reiterated his desire to see his right-hand man, the government under secretary Gianni Letta, in that somewhat ceremonial role. The president is elected by a two-thirds majority in Parliament. President Giorgio Napolitano’s seven-year term ends in 2013.

Copyright 2011 The New York Times Company
 
Angelino Alfano
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Franco Frattini
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Mariastella Gelmini
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Vittorio Sgarbi
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Julia90, as an Italian what is your opinion of Berlusconi?

What do you make of the current legal action against him?
 
Julia90, as an Italian what is your opinion of Berlusconi?

What do you make of the current legal action against him?

i think people private life should remain private.
the left and magistrate use juridical power to distruct political enemies.
magistrates in italy have an immense power, and they use it for they own favour, they are corrupted. also they are immune to law, they are very powerful, rich and greedy of more richness.

also, how you become a magistrate?... Thanks to family ties, magistrates are all sons of other magistrates.. it's nepotism, so someone who is more capable won't ever become a magistrate.
also they are all from the sud of italy (they all have southern surnames)... why because there there is more nepotism mentality. only southern italians are capable? i don't buy it...
 
I guess there is such a problem in most European countries.
One part that does have technical facilities (beta people), does most of the work to earn money, and another part that spends it (alpha people).

This seems to be symptomatic for the human species.

What do you get if you're not a beta? If you don't know how to be creative?
You become a politician. Or a salesman.
Selling things in this capitalist work brings more money, than the people working to produce the stuff earn.

So it's understandable that the Italians from the north look at the south as a region wasting money.
The same as the problems in Belgium, where Flanders earns, and the Walloon region is the big spender.
Same as in The Netherlands, where Brabant earns the money, and Holland spends it.

And of course we see a lot of clowns in the governments.
It's a propaganda technique to ridicule politics itself.
How to keep the people asleep, that's the main question.

Happy slaves are the enemies of freedom.

But, the main problem is the greed of capitalism.
Berlusconi is the real Capo di Capi.
Italy needs a new Garibaldi.

And by the way..
Northern Italy, Switzerland, some French regions, Belgium and The Netherlands have more in common than a modern viewer would think.
They all had the powerful city states. During history those cities were ram sacked by the high and mighty of medieval Europe. They once were a part of the middle empire, where the other two parts were France and Germany (Holy Roman Empire)

Only Switzerland could survive foreign aggression. Because of their high quality defense system.
 

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