‘Laughing stock’ leader parodied in cartoon showing prime minister with naked women
THERE WAS a curious front page picture on yesterday's edition of the independent daily, Il Fatto Quotidiano,an unfailingly outspoken critic of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The photo, taken in parliament's lower house during yet another no-confidence debate on Wednesday, showed at least four opposition deputies bent over some sort of poster, lost in study.
The poster was an enormous political cartoon that formed the centrefold spread in Wednesday's edition of Il Fatto Quotidiano. Drawn by the talented cartoonist, Vauro, it was a mock-up version of the famous, 1901 painting Il Quarto Stato(The Fourth Estate), by the neo-impressionist painter Giuseppe Pellizza.
In the original, which has become a familiar symbol for progressive and socialist causes in Italy, a crowd of workers and peasant farmers are walking straight towards the observer.
Two men and a woman with a small baby in her arms lead the way. Critics have tended to see this monumental work as the affirmation of a new social order, one in which the industrial working classes articulate their new-found rights. Film buffs may recall that the painting features briefly during the opening credits of Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece Novecento(1900).
Vauro's cartoon version, in its own way, also indicates a new social order, albeit rather different. Called Il Porno Stato, the cartoon shows a huge posse of naked young women being led by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, himself equally naked. In the drawing, some of the leading figures in the prime minister's infamous "Bunga Bunga" nights are all too recognisable. Impresario Lele Mora, Rete 4 TV head of news Emilio Fede, Lombardy regional councillor Nicole Minetti, and Bari businessman Gianpaolo Tarantini, all accused of having organised the Bunga Bunga evenings, are in the vanguard, naked of course.
For the deputies in the chamber the other day, the main interest in the poster may well have been the identification of other protagonists from the prime minister’s “Barigate” and “Rubygate” sex scandals.
All good fun, eh? As he celebrated his 75th birthday yesterday, the prime minister was not laughing. Now in his 18th year in political life, Berlusconi could be forgiven for concluding that things get tougher at the top, year by year.
In the last week he has seemed ever more in the eye of a fierce storm. One week ago the president of the Confederation of Italian industry, Emma Marcegaglia, called on him to resign, saying that Italian industrialists were “fed up with being an international laughing stock”. On Monday of this week, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, appeared to issue a fierce criticism of the prime minister when, without naming him, he attacked the “licentious behaviour and improper relations” of those in public life, adding “certain diverse lifestyles” were simply incompatible with the “dignity” of public office.
In the space of a week, two of the most influential power centres in the country – two groups which, if they have not openly supported Berlusconi, have certainly gone along for the ride – had both dropped him. Some 24 hours later Berlusconi learned that he could soon be facing fresh charges of perjury within the context of the “Tarantini/Barigate” scandal.
That means that as well as a possible "Barigate Two" trial, we also have "Rubygate", "Mills", "Mediaset", "Mediatrade" and "Unipol" trials featuring the prime minister and showing at a palazzo di giustizianear you.
Little wonder then, that in conversation with deputies from his Freedom Party in the House on Wednesday evening, Berlusconi was not in the mood for happy birthdays.
For the second time in a week, his government majority had stood by senior members of his Freedom Party. Last week, it had denied magistrates the right to arrest on charges of corruption Marco Milanese, right-hand man of finance minister Giulio Tremonti. This week, it rejected a no-confidence motion in agriculture minister Severio Romano, currently under investigation on Mafia-related charges. Curiously, when it came to voting on tax declaration issues yesterday, the government majority was not nearly so disciplined, with a Democratic Party motion defeating the government by 24 votes.
Talking to his party deputies, though, Berlusconi outlined his major concerns and obsessions. No, not the state of the recently downgraded Italian economy. As so often, Mr B’s thoughts are firmly fixed on his long-term battle with the judiciary. He remains convinced magistrates want to “subvert” democracy by getting him out of office by means of one of the controversial cases involving him.
In the meantime, rather than join forces with his finance minister in dealing with Italy’s crisis, he continues to argue with Tremonti. The latest bone of contention has been the appointment of the new Bank of Italy governor to replace ECB president-elect, Mario Draghi.
What could well be true, however, is that not only the bishops, the industrialists and economic commentators are turning against the prime minister. Most recent polls suggest the Freedom Party has been overtaken by the main opposition Democratic Party. Could the end be in sight?