So, You Want to Be a Politician in Italy?

Italy is extremely democratic really.  Just about anyone can become a politician here.

Indeed, in amongst the motley crew which inhabit, or have inhabited, Italy’s upper and lower houses of parliament you’ll find: former models, porn stars, cruise ship crooners, social networkers from Sicily, convicted criminals, family friends, etc. etc.

Imagine you want to obtain that most coveted of all full-time jobs in Italy: a politician – a job which comes with an unjustifiably high salary, a wonderfully generous expense package, an enormous number of perks, and to add the icing to the cake, a valuable pension.  If the sound of such a job appeals, then you might well be asking yourself which qualities you need to land such a job and, in so doing, end up with a comfy seat in Italy’s cushy parliament.

Just in case you were thinking of applying, what follows is a list of ten qualities you should have.  Qualities which seem to have proven very useful to quite a number of Italy’s current bunch of politicians.

On to the Top Ten List.

Read more

Should He Stay or Should He Go Now?

I’ve long been a fan of now long defunct punk rock group The Clash.  I found Clash songs powerful, hard edged and catchy, and I love their titles too.  It is the titles of Clash songs which, I have noticed, are rather appropriate to Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi’s current woes.

Perhaps the best Clash song title is ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?’, which is the question Silvio Berlusconi might be asking himself at the moment.  Certainly some of Berlusconi’s supporters are thinking ‘Should he Stay or Should I Go Now?’.

There are plenty of other Clash songs which seem to sum up Silvio Berlusconi’s pickles too. Read more

Saving Silvio Berlusconi

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s richest man and current prime minister, must be totally and utterly terrified of Italy’s forces of law and order.  Such is his fear that he is going to enormous lengths to keep himself out of Italy’s courts, and, presumably, Italy’s prisons.

Gomorrah Author Roberto Saviano

After one such attempt to keep Silvo Berlusconi out of trouble, the Lodo Alfano, met with the disapproval of the highest court in Italy, Silvio shouted, screamed and kicked up a huge fuss.  Then he turned round and told his, presumably very highly paid, pet legal eagle, Nicolo Ghedini, to sort the situation out.

Ghedini after burning presumably copious amounts of  midnight oil in the company of Italy’s justice minister, Angelino Alfano (Yes, he of the Lodo Alfano),  came up with a whizzo way to keep his beloved boss out of legal hot water, and, presumably, prison.

What these two erstwhile politicians/lawyers/Berlusconi disciples/clever chaps came up with is a way to ensure that certain court cases in Italy fizzle out automatically if they cannot be resolved in 6 years.  Yes, those with some knowledge of the law will recognise this as being a form of ‘time barring’.

Italy’s legal system is so darn sluggish that Berlusconi’s lawyer Ghedini and Italy’s justice minister Alfano’s cunning plan is bound to have the desired effect, and keep Silvio from ending up behind bars.

It is a scheme that is outwardly so simple – when you have friends in very high places – and so foolproof.  But some Italians are not being fooled by the latest Save Silvio law.

They, including some well known Italian names, think the law is plainly unjust.  And opposition to Berlusconi’s reign continues to mount.

Read more

Next Page »