I’m visiting a stylish but tense Rome today, just as the Italian legislature has voted down a non-confidence vote in Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s mogul-cum-leader. “Rome is at war” my taxi driver told me and numerous demonstrations are going on.
Ill Cavaliere, as Berlusconi is sometimes known, put in a strong defence of his record in the Senate and managed to coax, cajole and, some claim, bribe enough parliamentarians in the Chamber of Deputies to secure a small victory. He pulled not a Full Monty but a “Full Andreotti”, using every trick and tactic in the book (and some scribbled in the margin too).
For now, Berlusconi survives and can resume a life of partying pleasure-seeking and friendship with Vladimir Putin, which caused the political ructions in the first place. His main opponent, the ex-fascist and former ally Gianfranco Fini, lost the latest round in their internecine fight.
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