Berlusconi bounces back

As I for one predicted, the defenestration of Silvio Berlusconi last November in a palace coup orchestrated by Europe’s bores has made no difference. Italy may well be governed by a dour former economics professor, Eurocrat and international adviser to Goldman Sachs, Mario Monti, but Italy is still in a total mess.

So I greeted the news that Silvio il Magnifico, as I call him, will stand for the fourth time as Premier in the next general election by trying to high-five my Italian wife Carla in the kitchen. ‘Dammi un cinque!’ I shouted.

Bravo Silvio! Che uomo! Yes, Il Cavaliere (the Knight) is a bit long in the tooth. He will be 76 in September and has survived not just prostate cancer but Italy’s cancerous judges and lynch-mob lefty media, any of which would have finished off lesser mortals years ago.

And yes, ovviamente, Berlusconi, Italy’s richest man and owner of three of its four national private television channels, is a very controversial figure. But the Italians are a controversial people. The question is this: who else if not il Cav can govern Italy as elected prime minister? I cannot think of anyone. And I am sure that is why, like the gecko that waits for hour after hour on the wall as if dead until the fly comes within range and then pounces, he bided his time to see which political figure if any would emerge as a potential prime minister. When none did, he seized his moment.

Since Berlusconi resigned, I have more or less given up watching Italian television or reading Italian newspapers. All I need to know is that Italy is up the creek without a paddle thanks to its fatal decision — taken by the left-wing Italian government of the time — to abandon the lira in favour of the euro in 2001.