Arrivederci Silvio Berlusconi…until next time?

Silvio Berlusconi has been the richest and most charismatic man in Italy for many years. But the origins of his fortune remain such a mystery that many accuse him of “going into politics so as to not go to jail”. And into politics he did go. Moreover, few were surprised when he became the most powerful and controversial Italian prime minister since Benito Mussolini.

Therefore, it must have required every ounce of humility in his little Napoleonic body for Berlusconi to cede power last Monday to his arch-nemesis, Romano Prodi – who defeated him in national elections held almost a month ago. Because no Italian coveted (and flaunted) wealth and power more controversially and dramatically than Silvio Berlusconi.

Of course, given recent reports that most Americans could not point on a map to Louisiana (the state devastated by Hurricane Katrina) or Iraq (where Americans are dying everyday in a seemingly unwinnable war), chances are that relatively few Americans have any clue who Berlusconi is, or what is so noteworthy about him. And this lack of recognition must be particularly galling to this egomaniacal, narcissistic Italian who recently underwent well-publicized cosmetic surgeries (i.e., face lift and hair transplant) to improve his looks.

Nonetheless, those of us with some interest in world affairs are acutely aware that Berlusconi staked his political career on enlisting Italy in America’s coalition of the willing to invade Iraq. And he had to have known this was a fatal mistake when he found himself demanding satisfaction from President George W. Bush last year, after U.S. forces shot and killed an Italian agent who Berlusconi had sent on a special mission to negotiate the release of an Italian journalist being held hostage in Iraq.

In fairness to Bush, however, being misled into war was hardly Berlusconi’s only political liability. After all, he seemed to spend almost as much time during his beleaguered premierships (April 1994 – January 1995 and June 2001- May 2006) defending himself in court as he did representing the Italian people in the European Union.

Indeed, where Bush supporters have been charged for bribing government officials to gain business favors, Berlusconi himself has been stalked by charges that he has bribed everyone from Italian judges to bureaucrats in his own government to maintain his control over everything from all of Italy’s major TV stations to its national soccer team. And, if his legal woes were not bad enough, Berlusconi made a spectacle of his office by, inter alia:

– referring to Prodi and his supporters as “vampires” and “dickheads”;

– likening himself to Jesus Christ;

– telling a German member of the EU parliament who criticized him that he (the German) was perfect for the role of a Kapo (supervisor) in a movie an Italian producer was making about the Nazi concentration camps;

– insinuating that he used his “playboy arts” to persuade the female Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, to allow the EU Food Safety Authority to be located in Italy instead of Finland as designated;

– reassuring a group of international investors by claiming that the best reason to invest in Italy was that “we have the most beautiful secretaries in the world”; and

– insulting Chinese leaders, just weeks before election day, by clarifying his outrageous statement that the “Chinese Communists used to eat their children” – with the even more outrageous statement that “they did not eat children, but had them boiled to fertilise the fields.”

PM-Elect Romano Prodi (L) savoring what he hopes will be his last sight of Berlusconi in public life…

It’s obvious why Berlusconi was regarded by politicians around the world as more of a buffoon than a statesman. And even though many Italians share this view of him, enough of them voted for Berlusconi to sustain his deluded claim that Prodi stole the election.

Unfortunately, their votes (which left Berlusconi only 2 seats short of Prodi’s majority in the Senate) have also stoked his vain ambition to make Prodi’s term as prime minister even shorter and more beleaguered than Berlusconi’s first 9-month term in 1994.

(Talk about a fool with enough money [and ego] to be dangerous. Alas, this election result means that it is as likely that Prodi will be able to tackle Italy’s domestic problems – like high unemployment and public debt – as it is that Berlusconi will be able to stop appearing on his own TV stations to spew more outrageous statements….)

Congratulations Signore Prodi! And good luck. You’re going to need it….

Romano Prodi, Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister