A reverdicci Silvio

[Baruch Menachem]

Berlusconi to resign?

Where will we get our morning sex in politics joke?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xx2VAA2s2k&feature=feedu"]Bye bye[/ame]

 

[Swagger]

The self-serving clown who currently runs Italy has been pressured into resigning by President Napolitano after the austerity package demanded by the EU has been passed.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

So who is the next self serving clown to run Italy, and how is that self serving clown district from the self serving clowns of Greece, France, Spain or the US?

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right, ya can't keep a good man down - ol' Silvio Berlusconi waitin' in the wings...

Italy: Last days of Mario Monti
10 December 2012 - Mario Monti became PM as an unelected technocrat backed by the EU

Sooner or later, politics - with all its raucousness and uncertainty - was going to return to Italy. It now looks as if elections will be held in February rather than in April when the government's term runs out.

On Saturday night Mario Monti announced that he would stand down as soon as parliament has approved next year's budget. He took the decision after Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party (PdL) had withdrawn its support. "I have become convinced," said the Italian prime minister, "that we could not continue like this anymore". So one of the great Italian games commences: political bluff, power plays, deals made and broken and shifting alliances.

Mr Berlusconi, his party weakened by in-fighting and his own indecision, spied an opportunity. Although Mario Monti is respected abroad as the leader who brought stability and reform to Italy, at home the economy remains mired in recession. Mr Berlusconi, who will be campaigning to be prime minister for the sixth time, will base his campaign on opposing Mr Monti's economic policies. He will accuse the unelected, technocrat prime minister of leading the country into a "recessive spiral without end". Already his allies are fanning out and accusing Mr Monti of having made "grave errors".

There will be some Italians drawn to this argument. Italy is in recession. Unemployment, at 11.1%, is still rising - and so is its debt mountain. What Mr Monti did was to bring the deficit under control and to implement reforms which would open up the economy. For this he was widely applauded in Europe's capitals.

EU support for Monti