Does Italy Need another Dictator?

Before you and my Italian readers throw their hands up in horror at the thought of another dictator taking power in Italy, I don’t mean another Mussolini, more of a Lee Kuan Yew.  ‘A Lee Kuan who?’, you might be asking yourselves.

Lee Kuan Yew, for those who are unaware, is a former prime minister of Singapore.  Someone who has been labelled as a benevolent dictator.  Even Mussolini, who came to a sticky end at the hands of his own people, was, and still is by some, regarded as a dictator of the benevolent genre.  Some historians would argue that Mussolini did do some good for Italy, as indeed did his German partner in crime, one Adolf Hitler.  Power, alas, appears to have gone to the heads of both of these late leaders, and as a consequence they committed many regrettable actions which left their countries in more of a mess than before they started to throw their dictatorial weight around.

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, on the other hand, appears to have managed to keep the temptations of total power at bay to the extent that he has relinquished power.  Yew is a shrewd politician and an intellectual with an impressive academic record.  Under his leadership, whether it is considered dictatorial or not, Singapore grew from being a backward, unstable former colonial outpost into a stable First World Asian Tiger, according to Wikipedia.  In other words, Yew took a floundering, corrupt country with potential, and turned it around.

Perhaps the same could happen in Italy, there are, after all, parallels between the two countries.

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Berlusconi’s Battles

The scandal centred around call-girls, and one call-girl in particular, Patrizia D’Addario, is continuing to dog Italy’s prime minister.

Attempts to scare the Italian press into not covering events and accusations have had some effect, in that one leading journalist, Dino Boffo, the editor of Vatican publication Avvenire, decided to resign after what many suspect was a Berlusconi instigated counter-attack.  Well, the offensive against a journalist who had spoken ill of Italy’s premier was launched via a Berlusconi family newspaper, Il Giornale, so it is not a huge surprise that people think Berlusconi pulled a few strings.

One victory does not mean that the war is won though.  Indeed, Berlusconi needs to win on several fronts.  While the resignation of the editor represents one victory, there are some indications that other aspects that the war of Italy’s number one politician is waging against his opponents  is floundering.

Here are some of the fronts which Berlusconi is trying to defend himself against.

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Berlusconi Lashes Out

Observers in Italy commented on how Silvio Berlusconi went rather quiet over the August summer break this year.  Berlusconi was not relaxing though, he was, by the sounds of things, a plotting and a scheming.

In a clear sign that the holiday ‘ceasefire’ is now over, Mr Berlusconi has launched a series of attacks on those who have dared criticise him.

In the line of Berluconi’s fire are an Italian newspaper, the Vatican, and Italian television.

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