Berlusconi: the enemies circle

Perhaps we might say that Silvio Berlusconi is not scared who he chooses as his enemies. There seem to be a few, now.

The Church is not happy with him, in particular because he fought back; but he was right, if clumsy, to do so. Dino Boffo, the editor of l’Avvenire, the newspaper of the Bishops’ Conference, was not in a position to lecture people on their moral peccadilloes and has rightly resigned.

There has been some rough and tumble, if not exactly a rift, with Gianfranco Fini, the former leader of Alleanza Nazionale which has merged with Berlusconi’s Forza Italia into the PdL. It would appear Fini, effectively Berlusconi’s deputy, was anticipating the great man's demise and positioning himself, a little early, towards the centre. Il Giornale, the Berlusconi family paper, has advised him to get back to the right if he doesn’t want to appear any more ridiculous than he already does (their words not mine). Fini says he will sue Il Giornale.

Lastly, Berlusconi is being sued by Rupert Murdoch. Amidst great complaint from Rupe, Berlusconi increased the VAT rate on subscription TV, saying it was a requirement of the EU and that it would hit Berlù’s pay channels as well.

We now learn that Murdoch is behind much of the Berlusconi smearing that has been going on. His new York papers have been most outrageous, claiming for example that Silvio was the father of Noemi Letizia, the young model whose birthday party he attended. Murdoch has even got the classics academic Mary Beard, who writes for the Times, to pen a comparison between Berlusconi and the Emperor Tiberias.

Now there are rumours that the Mafia is turning against him. A little known member of the coalition is Movimento per l’Autonomia, regarded almost humorously in that, in a mirror image of the Lega Nord, it seeks more autonomy for Sicily and the South. But the MpA is suddenly making fantastic gains in the polls. Berlusconi has hitherto expected a clean sweep of the Sicily electorate; increasingly it is being said this is no longer on offer.

So is the great man toppling? We shall see. His goal is to become president, and Napolitano’s term expires in June 2011, at which time there must also be general elections. The president is elected not by the people but by Parliament. Some are apparently whispering in Berlù’s ear that if he were to call a snap election he would win it. He would promise Fini and the rest that he would step down to become President when Napolitano leaves. I think he would like this reasoning: it is dealing with stronger enemies seemingly from a position of power.

Whether he is the right person to become President is another matter. Still, Napolitano was a former comunist and we seem to have been happy to forget his earlier life. Why not?