Berlusconi booted out of parliament
Print Edition
Italy’s parliament expelled Silvio Berlusconi over his tax fraud conviction yesterday in a momentous move that raises the risk of his arrest but is unlikely to be the last act of his tumultuous career.
The three-time former prime minister told thousands of supporters outside his residence in Rome that he would “fight on” despite the vote, saying it was “a day of bitterness, a day of mourning for democracy.”
“We are not going to retire to some convent,” Berlusconi said in a defiant speech, as fellow senators began voting that ended up forcing him from parliament for the first time in his 20-year political career.
Motions put forward by Berlusconi’s allies in the Senate in an attempt to block the expulsion procedure were rejected one by one in a dramatic session in which dozens of lawmakers took the floor to support him.
One loyalist senator even compared the scandal-tainted Berlusconi to South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and two rival senators almost came to blows.
Senate speaker Pietro Grasso said the failure of the motions meant that a proposal “abolishing the election of Senator Silvio Berlusconi” was considered approved.
Berlusconi will now be banned from taking part in any general election for six years and will lose his parliamentary immunity, which offers safeguards against arrest.
Rumors are rife in Rome that an arrest could be imminent although Berlusconi’s lawyers have dismissed the prospect as “absurd” given that he has already had to give up his passport and is not a flight risk.
Experts said the expulsion marks another step in Berlusconi’s slow-motion demise, although he will continue to wield major clout even as an ex-lawmaker.
Opinions were mixed in the streets of Rome.
“We managed to put an end to 20 years of fascism, we can put an end to 20 years of Berlusconism too. I hope then we will become a more grown-up country,” said a passer-by in the Trastevere district.
At the pro-Berlusconi demonstration, however, student Augusto Leone said: “I think he is the victim of prejudice of a part of the political system that has always wanted to eliminate him.”
Several polls show that the 77-year-old’s popularity is undimmed among his core supporters.
Lilli D’Ottavio, a Berlusconi supporter who came from northern Italy to see her leader, said his legal entanglements were part of a “coup d’etat” engineered by his left-wing rivals.
“President Berlusconi will never end because an idea never dies,” she said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
