Italian Prime Minister faces bribery trial

[romansky]

These charges against Berlusconi have been around for years, at least rumours well before the last election. So it was not surprising when formal proceedings begain against Berlusca & member of parliament Cesare Previti last year, but they bought time when the PM convinced Cirami to sponsor legislation that allowed for the venue of a trial to be changed if it was unusually prejudicial against the defendant.

Of course that would've greatly benefited Sivlio & Previti who wanted to avoid standing trial in Milan where they will have a decidedly un-sympathetic judgement, but the high court ruled last week that their trial will not be moved. Very bad news for Berlusca as a change in venue would've probably wasted enough time to have the case dismissed on the statute of limitations, but that looks unlikely now.

The most ironic part of the story is that Berlusconi has been attacking the Italian Judiciary itself as being prejudicial, since many judges are more left-wing & not in support of Forza Italia by any means. The Italian Supreme Court is not partisan either & I appalud their attempts to bring the Mafia to task finally, at a great personal danger. It's not surprising when you consider that a Sicilian capo testified against Marcello Dell'Utri last year, the co-founder of Forza Italia is on trial for his Mafia connexions.

Nothing ever changes in Italia, recently someone here asked me why I hate Berlusconi, I say why DON'T you hate him?

[barça]

Originally posted by romansky
I say why DON'T you hate him?

Becuase the guy is actually a good Prime Minister.

[romansky]

Originally posted by barça
Becuase the guy is actually a good Prime Minister.

I don't really see the evidence of that, I would like to see a directly-elected president in Italy. Some segments of the Italian economy seem positive on paper now that output & wages have gone up steadily in recent months, but it has nowt to do with him. There is no denying that Berlusconi is a charismatic figure & has done much to bolster Italian pride, all politicians abuse power & self-interest to some extent but SB has become despicable IMO That's not even mentioning his relationship with George W. which is an entirely different topic.

But I haven't really lived in Italy for 20 years, they voted for Forza Italia & I have no real say in that :D But it still pains me as an expatriate.

[barça]

The economy is doing better because of him, he brings confidence to the business sector and that brings investment. These days of recessions every where a good economy is worth even more.

As a person that does business in Italy, I like the man. Of course, my opinion.

Corruption in politics is so common place, that it becomes another topic all together.

[ItalianBoy]

romansky are you another Sev?
Berlusconi is none of the things people accuse him of. Once again, I am not a fan of him, but I have to be objective.

I would like to see a directly-elected president in Italy

He was for 2 times in a row.
But the first time, the Left side tried everything to put him down and they did.
Now he is fnally at the govt and he is doing much better than the Sinistra did.

[Severus]

i don't think it matters anyway roman, whether its in milano or timbuk-too they're not gonna find their own PM guilty. especially in italy, the mother of all corruptors of the west.

it would be nice though, cos i'd like to see that fascist pig relieved of his duties. just alone for his arse-licking relationship he has with W that makes me cringe at the sight. doesn't he have any self-respect ?

[ItalianBoy]

Bunch of bullshit as usual.
:rolleyes:

[romansky]

Originally posted by ItalianBoy
He was for 2 times in a row.
But the first time, the Left side tried everything to put him down and they did.
Now he is fnally at the govt and he is doing much better than the Sinistra did.

You know what I mean, you surely voted in Italy? The Italian government has no directly-elected president in the true sense, the party coalitions are elected & the Prime Minister is chosen from the top of the party list. In France & the US the president has wide-ranging executive powers while the Italian PM is very limited in these, although there is talk of constitutional reforms in Italia that will give the PM more power or even change the structure to a real president with real executive power, as in Berlusca's counterpart Jacques Chirac.

[romansky]

Originally posted by barça
The economy is doing better because of him, he brings confidence to the business sector and that brings investment. These days of recessions every where a good economy is worth even more.

As a person that does business in Italy, I like the man. Of course, my opinion.

I'm sure you're very satisfied with your business concerns in Italy, the Italian economy has posted some optimistic numbers in recent months. My point was that Italy has the 6th largest economy in the world, yet are ranked anywhere from 35th to 41st in key economic rankings & indices. That's unacceptable I think & Forza Italia's economic policies are at least partly responsible.

True all of this cannot be blamed on the PM but he has certainly not helped matters with the debacle over pensions & now "cosmetic" stop-gap measures like tax amnesty & debt swaping to promote spending. This approach will do little to help Italy's long-term economy is all I was saying.

[HULK HOGAN]

Originally posted by Severus
it would be nice though, cos i'd like to see that fascist pig relieved of his duties. just alone for his arse-licking relationship he has with W that makes me cringe at the sight. doesn't he have any self-respect ?




???????

Facist, the far-lefts favorite word.

[Looney]

What exactly is Italy's economic status? What's their Gini co-efficient? Their GDP per capital? Their annual GDP growth? Their real wage and price levels? Inflation? Where can I find all this stuff out? (sorry eco student who likes macroeconomics here). And is it thanx to the current government or was it because of groundwork laid by the previous government?

[ItalianBoy]

I know that a USA family gets around 22 grands per year and an Italina one gets 18.
Not bad if you ask me.
Sure we are not as rich as the USA, but we are still 6 like someone said.
Also, Berlusca was elected by the people.