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Italian Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi pauses during a rally in Rome. (Pic: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
ITALY’S PARLIAMENT HAS expelled Silvio Berlusconi over a tax fraud conviction in a humiliating vote that but billionaire tycoon has vowed to “fight on”.
The three-time former prime minister told thousands of supporters outside his residence in Rome that he would stay on in politics 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 held rounds of voting that forced 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. Many senators from his party wore black in mourning.
A Senate usher, right, tries to prevent Senator Domenico Scilipoti from showing a paper during a votation. Pic: (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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 is now banned from taking part in a general election for six years and has lost parliamentary immunity, which offers safeguards against arrest.
Rumours 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 Giulio, a passerby in the trendy Trastevere district.
At the pro-Berlusconi rally, however, supporters including his girlfriend Francesca Pascale belted his campaign anthem “Thank God Silvio’s Here!” and held up placards saying the expulsion was “a coup d’etat”.
“I think he is the victim of a prejudice of a part of the political system that has always wanted to eliminate him,” said Augusto Leone, a student.
Silvio Berlusconi girlfriend Francesca Pascale listen to Italy’s Former Premier Berlusconi during a rally in Rome. Pics: (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Several polls show that the 77-year-old’s popularity is undimmed among core supporters and a centre-right coalition led by him as figurehead could win elections.
Berlusconi left his residence shortly after the result of the vote was announced to be with his family at his villa near Milan, the site of some of the raunchy “bunga bunga” parties for which he has been convicted.
His daughter, Marina Berlusconi, who has denied persistent press rumours that she could succeed him, said in a statement: “This country and this democracy should be ashamed of what my father is suffering.”
Declining power
The momentous vote comes at an economically crucial time for Italy, which is struggling to end its longest post-war recession, and just as parliament debates a budget aimed at slashing high debt and deficit levels.
Centre-left Prime Minister Enrico Letta has called for a “non-chaotic situation in Italy” and said a division within Berlusconi’s ranks “will help stability”.
A group of dissidents led by Berlusconi’s former protege, Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano, broke away from his party this month to form their own group.
Alfano and his supporters voted against Berlusconi’s expulsion but will stay in Letta’s left-right coalition.
The government will therefore survive even though Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party has pulled out of the coalition after an uneasy cohabitation with its leftist rivals, who narrowly won a February general election.
The coalition now has a narrower Senate majority of around 10 seats and could be vulnerable to populist attacks.
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What about the board member who was forced to step down by all the current board numbers over making the public aware of this in the first place. Will he now be appointed back to the board as it is quite clear he is a man with a moral compass and a ackbone
@Chris Turner: backbone
@Chris Turner: Most likely not. A moral compass and a backbone are surplus to requirements.
What’s the catch ?
@Catherine Mc: Indeed, its way too smooth for my liking..
@Jonny Irish:
Strange, I wouldn’t trust either government or sister’s of charity.
Interesting development but you can be sure as long as a Fine Gael government are involved there will be profits made for private investors at the expense of the Irish state. They just can’t help themselves.
The National Maternity Hospital showed be owned by the State.
I find this very suspect what’s the catch there’s no way nuns are giving in unless their ideology is protected. Also I hope this doesn’t mean that st Michaels existence is at risk. Small hospitals always seem to be target’s
It’s a pity all the people on this were not looking for “The Catch” when the Sisters looked to have the hospital built in 1834.
@Padraig Corcoran: wow, were any of the posters alive in the 1830′s. Perhaps you could look at where the money came from and then comment. Congregations of nuns made profits on the backs of young girls, selling babies and other disgusting practices.
@Paul Fahey: don’t go telling the truth now , you’ll upset the zealots
@Paul Fahey: very literal there Paul. Every citizen of the state was responsible for what happened women and babies in this country.
@Padraig Corcoran: no they were not, but you convince yourself of that to protect your religious masters. No relative of mine ever raped, murdered or sold a child for profit; to the contrary my grandfather was born in a mother and baby home and they beat the shit out of him until they sold him as a farm labourer, aged 8. None of my family were gifted thousands of acres of public land, which they continue to sell for profit until this day. None of my relatives have been bequeathed property and monies by thousands of elderly folk, because they were told it would gain them access to heaven and eternal life, only for them to continue to sell those lands for profit until this day.
@Padraig Corcoran: I think you had a slight misprint there ? I don’t think many were around in 1834….
The Sister of Brutality ,sorry Charity .will be getting millions of Euro ,and as a charity will pay no taxes ,While the main party politicians and the media will praise this “outcome ” What a load of bullshit
Who are the new owners? Would they by any chance be private individuals who are also members of the same Sisters of Charity order and who are holding the property in trust for the Sisters of Charity. Just wondering since nobody has declared who the new owner is and what price the property fetched, Sisters of Charity merely state that they have relinquished control of the property! That may sound crazy but a similar scenario occurred with the transfer of a Cork hospital property some years ago when a congregation of nuns transferred it to some individuals who are members of the same congregation, it’s a handy way of concealing property when it could be valued as means when compensation awards are involved.
We need to get rid of all relegious involvement in this state.
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