ITALY: The Right Returns

By Sabina Zaccaro Reprint | | Print |

Sabina Zaccaro

ROME, Apr 15 2008 (IPS) - Silvio Berlusconi&#39s centre-right wing has regained political power in Italy. The winning message was continuity with policies in Berlusconi&#39s last term as prime minister, but his government is expected to be even less moderate this time.

Berlusconi&#39s coalition, the People of Liberty, defeated Walter Veltroni&#39s Democratic Party by a considerable margin, and with a large enough majority to rule Italy for a full five-year term. Berlusconi last led the Italian government from 2001 to 2006.

The centre-right wing won 168 seats in the Senate, compared to 130 seats for Veltroni. Seats in the Senate are distributed on a regional basis. In the lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, the count was 340 seats to 239.

The Centre Democrats – former Berlusconi supporters – obtained 3 and 36 seats respectively in the Senate and the lower house.

Berlusconi told IPS a few days ahead of the election held Sunday and Monday that people&#39s discontent with the outgoing centre-left government led by former EU commissioner Romano Prodi would give his group victory. Many see his victory as protest against almost "two years of inaction from a fragmented centre-left government."

Berlusconi&#39s People of Liberty is a partnership of the two main centre-right parties Forza Italia and Alleanza Nazionale. It is aligned with the federalist Northern League, which advocates greater autonomy that would favour the wealthier northern regions.

The Northern League won an unexpectedly high 8 percent of the vote. It was set up with the ambition of financially and administratively splitting the industrial north of the country from the rest, particularly the poorer regions of the south.

The group has a conservative, protectionist and anti-immigration policy.

The departure of moderate forces, and the growing weight of the nationalist Northern League, suggest that the new government will be shaped as a strong force to the right, with only a feeble counterbalance over issues like immigration.

"Concerns about security and immigration have certainly determined support for the League," Alfredo Mantica of the Alleanza Nazionale party allied to Berlusconi told IPS. Mantica is expected to take a leading position in the new government.

"Living in Milan, I know how much the northern population is worried about illegal migrants and the growing rate of criminality; they have repaid the League which based its electoral campaign on these issues," he said.

"Their (the Northern League&#39s) message is strong…you probably haven&#39t seen that in Rome, but their campaign posters here feature a Lakota Native American with his head-dress and with the text &#39They were also subjected to immigration and now they live on reserves! Think about it&#39."

A recent poll conducted by the League in three northern provinces indicates that 40 percent of residents see immigrants as a threat to law and order. Forced removals are frequent in the north-east.

Mantica says proliferation of Roma illegal camps on the city periphery has exacerbated residents&#39 concerns about crime and other problems blamed on illegal immigration, and the vote was an expression of these concerns.

Berlusconi now has to depend on Northern League support. "Yes, Northern League is not an easy ally, because of its radical views and the sometimes excessive tone they use," Mantica said. "But we have been governing together in the Lombardia region the last 12 years, and I know by experience that effective collaboration is possible."

Berlusconi has already indicated some League representatives who will take some key institutional and government positions.

The new government has a tough job on its hands, as Berlusconi has admitted. The International Monetary Fund expects growth in Italy to slow to 0.3 percent this year. Italy&#39s debt is the third highest in the world.

Ermete Realacci, spokesperson for Veltroni&#39s group, told IPS that the Democratic Party "born only October last year and probably unprepared for sudden elections, is ready for tough opposition to Berlusconi&#39s government, particularly on reforms, on foreign policy, and immigration policies.

"We have a totally different idea of Italy, but we are available to work together now to realise institutional and labour reforms, and to re-launch the country&#39s stalling economy, in a climate of dialogue and collaboration."

The Democratic Party has nevertheless brought a sort of revolution within the left forces, analysts say. A large part of the left electorate identified itself with the new left reformist party, or simply chose to vote for the only party that could realistically defeat Berlusconi.

The far-left, represented in The Rainbow Left, won just 3 percent. And for the first time in Italy&#39s democratic history, communist parties have disappeared from parliament.