{"id":1044,"date":"2018-02-24T13:58:45","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T12:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2018-02-24T14:02:29","modified_gmt":"2018-02-24T13:02:29","slug":"italys-berlusconi-looks-set-to-return-as-a-kingmaker-after-years-in-political-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stefanopitrelli.com\/?p=1044","title":{"rendered":"Italy\u2019s Berlusconi looks set to return as a kingmaker after years in political limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As recently as last year, Italians had written off Silvio Berlusconi as a political relic. But onstage for a talk show this month ahead of March\u00a04 elections, the 81-year-old media tycoon and former prime minister appeared like a man reborn.<\/p>\n

by Michael Birnbaum \/\u00a0Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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ROME \u2014\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHow do I look?\u201d he asked the studio audience as he settled in on a cushioned chair. \u201cJust fine!\u201d a woman shouted back.<\/p>\n

Berlusconi was\u00a0forced out as Italy\u2019s leader<\/a> in 2011 amid a debt crisis. He can\u2019t hold office until next year because of a tax-fraud conviction. But those missteps have receded, as have memories<\/a> of the bawdy \u201cbunga bunga\u201d parties he frequented \u2014 Berlusconi called them \u201celegant dinners\u201d \u2014 and he was cleared of charges of paying for sex with a minor.<\/p>\n

Now, the man who converted a media empire into a political force long before Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0ascension to the U.S. presidency<\/a> is making a comeback as a potential kingmaker.<\/p>\n

Much about this encore performance is unlikely. Surgeons have buffed the battle scars and wrinkles off Berlusconi\u2019s face, giving him an improbably youthful air. He remains savvy, parrying tough questions on television with ease. More surprising for a man who symbolizes Italy\u2019s political past: In a too-split-to-call election, the right-wing coalition he heads is thought to have the best chance of garnering the 40\u00a0percent of votes needed for a governing majority.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"Berlusconi, center, was once seen as a threat to the European Union but is positioning himself as a defender of the bloc. (Angelo Carconi\/Epa-Efe\/Rex\/Shutterstock)<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ve won the election, haven\u2019t we?\u201d Berlusconi crowed on the late-night show when interviewer Bianca Berlinguer noted that he had captured 42\u00a0percent of the votes of viewers who called in to express their views on his message.<\/p>\n

That message \u2014 a red-meat program of slashing taxes, booting out immigrants and restoring Italy\u2019s standing in the world \u2014 drew repeated applause from the studio audience, which included members of the youth movement of Berlusconi\u2019s party.<\/i><\/p>\n

The reception underscored the remarkable turnaround Berlusconi has experienced. His personal approval rating hovers near 24\u00a0percent, according to an average compiled<\/a> by polling firm Termometro Politico \u2014 far from its onetime heights. But as his younger rivals have crashed into irrelevance, Berlusconi has maneuvered back into the spotlight with a veteran\u2019s agility.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis charisma overcomes his age,\u201d said Pietrangelo Massaro, 34, the coordinator of Berlusconi\u2019s campaign in Rome\u2019s working-class Ostiense neighborhood. \u201cThe evolution of the skin and the face doesn\u2019t change anything. It doesn\u2019t change what\u2019s in his head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Berlusconi, who declined a request for an interview, has ushered his Forza Italia party into a grouping\u00a0with two smaller right-wing parties in a bid to see an ally installed as premier. One partner, the Northern League, wants to close Italy\u2019s borders to most immigrants and campaigns against Islam. The founders of the other, Brothers of Italy, were members of the successor to Italy\u2019s Fascist Party.<\/p>\n

The coalition has\u00a0promised big raises in pensions, a guaranteed minimum income of $1,250 a month for working-age adults, a steep tax cut and tough measures against economic migrants. Ever attentive to interest groups, Berlusconi has even tailored a message for animal lovers, often making appearances with Dud\u00f9, his white poodle.<\/p>\n

\u201cBerlusconi is there because others have failed. He\u2019s a survivor,\u201d said Massimo Franco, a columnist at the Corriere della Sera newspaper who has tangled with the politician for decades.<\/p>\n

In a galling turnabout for the leaders of the European Union who once saw Berlusconi as a danger to the bloc and the euro zone, he now appears to be Brussels\u2019s best bet in comparison with his strongest rivals. The surging populist Five Star Movement, which has questioned Italy\u2019s E.U. membership, seems set to capture more seats<\/a>in Parliament than any other single party,\u00a0but it has previously rejected the coalitions that would be required to govern. Meanwhile, Berlusconi has tempered the most strident anti-E.U. rhetoric of his right-wing allies.<\/p>\n

He \u201ccan now present himself as a champion of the European alliance,\u201d Franco said.<\/p>\n

For years, Berlusconi had more friends outside the E.U. orbit than in it \u2014 and he has not disavowed them. In October, he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin, an old buddy, a 65th-birthday gift of a duvet bearing an image of the two men shaking hands. He has also said he regrets allowing\u00a0the 2011 NATO mission that deposed Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, who also was a friend of Berlusconi\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0goodwill with Putin<\/a> remains. \u201cRussia is a fundamental partner for the stabilization of the world,\u201d said Paolo Romani, an Italian senator and\u00a0close ally of Berlusconi\u2019s.<\/i><\/p>\n

But Berlusconi has not let that history impede his present strategy. His fortunes revived after his party\u2019s biggest mainstream rival, the center-left Democratic Party,\u00a0imploded in the past year following then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi\u2019s failed referendum bid for constitutional changes to strengthen his office. The Democratic Party captured 41\u00a0percent of the vote in 2014 European elections. Now it is polling around 23\u00a0percent.<\/p>\n

Berlusconi \u201csays what people want him to say,\u201d said Walter Veltroni, a founder of the Democratic Party. \u201cThe left is divided, and that has opened a road to him, and he is taking it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlusconi confidants\u00a0say he has embraced his revived prospects. He took a few days off the trail\u00a0this month, complaining of fatigue. But one\u00a0recent day, he put in\u00a0formidable hours \u2014 a morning flight to Rome, followed by a 75-minute speech to a business group and the evening talk-show interview, after which he peeled out in his armored Volkswagen Passat after 11\u00a0p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is convinced that he has a magic wand and he can lift the country again,\u201d said Vittorio Feltri, the founder and editorial director of Libero, a pro-Berlusconi newspaper in Milan.<\/p>\n

Feltri said Berlusconi had initially resisted comparisons to Trump, deriding the president as an amateurish newcomer who was better\u00a0at firing up his base than\u00a0building workable coalitions. Lately, though, Feltri said, the Italian leader has softened\u00a0his opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome traits deserve to be appreciated,\u201d Berlusconi said this week. Trump is \u201cnot scared of being an alien in Washington\u2019s bureaucracy.\u201d But he warned that \u201cthese kinds of impulsive reactions are not sufficiently thought-out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some analysts say that Italy is in the middle of a political transition, as old parties crumble before new ones have matured enough to capture governing majorities. Few politicians have succeeded in inspiring the public or winning its trust.<\/p>\n

In a field of unpalatable choices, Berlusconi and his party have coasted through this campaign on memories of past successes. Defeats, such as the skyrocketing public debt and the wobbliness that nearly forced Italy to request an IMF bailout in 2011, have faded as political issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like an old football player who has scored some goals. Renzi never scored any goals,\u201d said Gianluca Borrelli, the head of Termometro Politico. \u201cBerlusconi doesn\u2019t have the trust and confidence of the Italian people he had in the past. He doesn\u2019t have big popularity anymore. But he\u2019s not unpopular.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Whether that is enough will be seen March\u00a04. For now, Berlusconi is riding high \u2014 especially on television, where he had his recent talk-show audience in the palm of his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the rhythm of television,\u201d Berlusconi said with a smile, as he chided the interviewer for trying to interrupt him. \u201cI taught it to many.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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