Category Archives: Silvio Berlusconi

Italy: internal rivalry could threaten the stability of a Meloni-led coalition

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Matteo Salvini has described Giorgia Meloni as a ‘pain in the ass’, while Silvio Berlusconi is rumoured to be unsupportive

Giorgia Meloni has spent three decades fighting her way to the top of Italian politics. But despite her political prowess, the 45-year-old from Rome, whose strong will and determination has drawn comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, has limited government experience.

If Meloni is confirmed as prime minister over the next few weeks, she will be in charge of steering Italy through one of its most delicate periods, dealing with mammoth challenges from the energy crisis and high inflation to a possible recession and a winter wave of Covid-19.

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Berlusconi claims Russians ‘pushed’ Putin into Ukraine war

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Italian former PM’s party is part of coalition expected to win Sunday’s general election

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s three-time former prime minister, whose party is forecast to return to government after the general election on Sunday, has sparked a row after defending the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over the war in Ukraine.

The 85-year-old billionaire told Italian TV that Putin, an old friend of his, was pushed to invade Ukraine by the Russian people and by ministers who wanted Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration replaced with “decent people”.

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Tough, determined, fascinated by Mussolini: Rome neighbours recall Giorgia Meloni

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Residents in traditionally leftwing Garbatella district not surprised by rise of woman poised to be Italy’s next PM

Half-torn posters, one with a still fairly legible slogan, are all that remain of a branch of the youth wing of the neofascist Italian Social Movement (MSI) in Rome’s traditionally leftwing and working-class Garbatella district, where Giorgia Meloni, poised to become Italy’s prime minister after elections next weekend, grew up and charted her political path.

Undeterred by the at times violent confrontations between young left and rightwing militants in the early 1990s, and the messages to “kill the fascists” daubed on the walls of Garbatella, Meloni knocked on its door aged 15 and signed up.

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Berlusconi plots another comeback ‘to make everyone happy’

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Disgraced former PM will run as Forza Italia candidate for senate in alliance led by far-right Brothers of Italy

Italy’s disgraced former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is plotting a political comeback in next month’s national elections, saying the move “would make everyone happy”.

Berlusconi, the 85-year-old leader of Forza Italia, said he would run as a senator in the ballot on 25 September. “That way everyone would be happy,” he told Rai radio. “I’ve received pressure [to do so] from many, even outside Forza Italia.”

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Support for Putin among western celebrities drains away over Ukraine

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Steven Seagal is isolated voice in backing Russian president as Gérard Depardieu, Silvio Berlusconi and others condemn invasion

At an upscale restaurant in Moscow, the bubbly was flowing as guests in cocktail dresses and expensive suits danced the night away.

They had gathered on Sunday for the 70th birthday of Steven Seagal, the American-born actor best known for playing hard-bitten cops and commandos in action movies.

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Italian League’s Matteo Salvini calls for new alliance based on US Republicans

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Attempt to create a rightwing political force may mean the end of partnership with Brothers of Italy

The Italian League leader, Matteo Salvini, has proposed creating a rightwing political force styled on America’s Republican party in a move that threatens to spell the end of his tense partnership with his far-right sometime rival Giorgia Meloni.

Salvini’s League and other parties including the centre-left Democratic party and populist Five Star Movement that make up Italy’s broad ruling coalition have been left in disarray after failing to agree on a mutually acceptable candidate for head of state in last week’s presidential election, culminating with Sergio Mattarella, 80, being elected for a second term against his earlier expressed wishes.

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Bootleggers, bondage and law-breaking bashes! The scandalous history of the wild party

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From Prohibition-busting cocktail parties to all-night raves, illegal gatherings have been at the centre of modern culture for decades. So why do they still have the power to shock?

For more than a month now, the press has been full of stories of “illegal” parties in Downing Street. The government, we are told, has almost ground to a halt because of the scandal.

Given the coverage, one might easily get the impression that the law-breaking bash is a recent invention, something that could only happen in lockdown, driven by privilege and an unhealthy sense of entitlement. Yet the modern party began life as a crime just over a century ago, when the Volstead Act banned the production and sale of alcohol in the US. As the New York Times explained in 1920:

You cannot carry a hip flask.
You cannot give away or receive a bottle of liquor as a gift.
You cannot take liquor to hotels or restaurants and drink it in the public dining rooms.
You cannot buy or sell formulas or recipes for homemade liquors.
You cannot …

“Oh,” said the Bright Young People. “Oh, oh, oh.”

“It’s just exactly like being inside a cocktail shaker,” said Miles Malpractice.

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Secret ballot to elect president of Italy begins as Berlusconi drops out

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Lawmakers and regional delegates will vote for successor to Sergio Mattarella, who steps down on 3 February

Italian parliamentarians will begin casting their votes for a new president on Monday after the scandal-plagued Silvio Berlusconi abandoned his dream of becoming the next head of state.

More than 1,000 lawmakers and regional delegates will participate in the complex secret ballot, described as being akin to the appointment of a new pope, that could go through several rounds before a successor to Sergio Mattarella, who is due to step down on 3 February, is elected.

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‘A voice like Sinatra’: Berlusconi woos backers in bid for Italian presidency

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Disgraced former PM and one-time ship’s crooner resorts to joke phone invitations to ‘bunga bunga’ parties

The one thing missing from the list of 22 personality traits and accomplishments flaunted in a full-page newspaper advert entitled “Who is Silvio Berlusconi?” was the former Italian prime minister’s talent for singing. But the one-time cruise ship crooner, one of Italy’s most controversial leaders, well known for his myriad legal woes, is hoping his pleasant voice will seduce dozens of parliamentarians into backing his bid to become Italy’s next president.

The secret ballot begins on 24 January and Berlusconi, 85, has broken from tradition by shamelessly campaigning for the job, a largely ceremonial role with powers to resolve political crises, even without officially throwing his hat into the ring. His charm offensive, which includes telephone canvassing of unaffiliated parliamentarians whose votes could secure his victory and jokingly inviting them to his “bunga bunga party”’, is stoking tensions in Italy’s ruling coalition, blocking meaningful debate on an impartial candidate who all parties can agree on – and igniting protests among Italians who find the prospect of the scandal-plagued Berlusconi becoming head of state abominable.

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Silvio Berlusconi steps up Italy presidential campaign with threat to coalition

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Forza Italia leader will reportedly withdraw party from government if Mario Draghi is elected president

Silvio Berlusconi has reportedly threatened to withdraw his Forza Italia party from Italy’s governing majority if the current prime minister, Mario Draghi, is elected president later this month.

The scandal-tainted media tycoon, who served four times as prime minister, is in Rome from Tuesday on the hunt for votes as he ramps up his own presidential campaign.

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Italians fear return of instability if Mario Draghi quits to become president

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Silvio Berlusconi is among those waiting in the wings if the prime minister decides to leave the stage and forces an early election

Italians have been enjoying an unusual period of political harmony – Mario Draghi, the prime minister, brought decisive, competent leadership in the midst of the pandemic, and the economy is growing fast. But that could be thrown into jeopardy when parliament elects a new president in January.

An opaque ritual described as being akin to the appointment of a new pope, the topic is dominating the political debate as the outcome could leave Italy with a predicament at a critical juncture: should Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief credited with restoring stability and confidence in the country, remain prime minister, or become president?

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Italy’s power struggle raises fears over Covid and the economy

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Italians struggle to fathom Giuseppe Conte’s resignation as prime minister and resulting political limbo

Italy’s political crisis has left the country in limbo in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, raising fears that a power struggle in the heart of government will hamper its economic recovery plan.

The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, resigned on Tuesday after weeks of feuding with former prime minister Matteo Renzi, who withdrew his small Italia Viva party from the ruling coalition following clashes over the handling of the pandemic and a spending plan for the €209bn (£185bn) Italy is due to receive from the EU’s economic recovery plan.

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Italy’s ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi splits from partner of 12 years

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Twice divorced media magnate reportedly now dating Marta Fascina, an MP from his party

Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has split from his partner after a 12-year relationship, his Forza Italia party said.

The 83-year-old billionaire and 34-year-old Francesca Pascale will “remain friends”, Forza Italia said in a statement.

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‘Sardines’ against Salvini: Italy’s fight against the far right

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Grassroots protests have brought tens of thousands of people on to the streets of Rome

Tens of thousands of people have crammed together in Rome on Saturday as part of the growing “sardines” movement against the leader of the far-right League and Italy’s former deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, and his allies.

Protesters converged in Piazza San Giovanni early in the afternoon in a bid “to further shake up the country’s politics and battle xenophobia”, in what was billed as their biggest rally.

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Umbria election exit poll points to win for Salvini and Italy’s right

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Donatella Tesei, backed by Matteo Salvini’s League and Silvio Berlusconi, appears set to win in centre-left Italian stronghold

Matteo Salvini’s political fortunes have been given a boost after an exit poll by Italy’s state broadcaster pointed to a win for a rightwing coalition backed by his League party in a regional election in Umbria.

Donatella Tesei, backed by the League, the far-right Brothers of Italy and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, will be elected governor with 56.5% to 60.5% of the vote, according to an exit poll for state broadcaster RAI.

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Thousands take to streets in Rome for far-right rally

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Matteo Salvini’s League joins rightwing parties in ‘Italian pride’ protest

Thousands of Italians descended on Rome for a far-right rally labelled “Italy pride”, evoking connotations to the “march on Rome” held on 27 October 1922 that marked the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s rise to power.

The rally on Saturday had been in the making since Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League, was spectacularly ousted from government in late August.

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Italian ‘bunga bunga’ witness not killed with radioactive poison

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Doctors carrying out tests on body of Imane Fadil, who attended Berlusconi parties

Results from the first tests on the body of Imane Fadil, a Moroccan model who was a regular guest at Silvio Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” parties, have excluded radioactive poisoning as a cause of death, doctors have announced.

Italian magistrates last week opened an investigation into the possible murder of Fadil, 33, who testified in 2012 against the former prime minister, who was accused at the time of paying for sex with an underage girl during organised sex parties at his villa.

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Italy investigates mystery death of ‘bunga bunga’ guest

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Imane Fadil, who attended Berlusconi parties, told lawyer she had been poisoned

Italian magistrates have opened an investigation into a possible murder after the mysterious death of a Moroccan model who was a regular guest at Silvio Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” parties.

Imane Fadil, 33, died on 1 March, a month after being admitted to a Milan hospital with severe stomach pains. At the time she told friends and her lawyer that she had been poisoned. Her death was only reported on Friday.

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Populist parties surge in Italian election

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Populist parties have gained ground at the expense of establishment voices in Italy's parliamentary elections, which produced no clear winner as votes were being counted in the early hours of Monday. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement is projected to have gained the most votes by a single party, while a center-right coalition looks set to hold the most seats in the country's senate.