Italian Elections

The Eurozone has been plunged back into uncertainty after the results of the general election in Italy. Thankfully the alliance of left wing parties, known as ‘Italy. Common Good’ managed to win a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, receiving 19 seats more than the 316 seats required. Unfortunately in the Senate things are not so certain as no coalition can form a majority, the closest is the ‘Italy. Common Good’ coalition which is 35 seats short of a majority. Here are a table of the results:

Party/Coalition	Deputies	% of vote	Senators	% of vote
Italy. Common Good	345	29.4	123	31.6
Centre-right Coalition	125	29.1	117	30.7
Five Star Movement	109	25.5	54	23.8
With Monti For Italy	47	10.5	19	9.1

What I can’t believe is how Berlusconi has once again returned from the political grave to terrorise Italian politics once again. Berlusconi is so sleazy, he makes Richard Nixon look saintly! Can you name any other western nation in which someone accused of having sex with an underage prostitute could maintain a viable political career? Berlusconi is an absolute joke, it was his leadership of Italy that got the country in the dire straits that it is in and he is advocating the same ridiculous ideas! Under Mario Monti’s leadership taxes were raised, Berlusconi has not only promised to abolish the new tax rates but refund Italians the extra tax they paid under Monti!

One of the big wins was for the new party, the Five Star Movement, led by comedian Beppe Grillo. The movement was formed three years ago in reaction to the huge corruption in Italian politics. Although the movement is often derided by the international media, it actually has some excellent policies in regards to politics.

·         Abolition of the provinces

·         Abolition of electoral refunds

·         Amalgamation of municipalities under 5,000 residents

·         Compulsory teaching of and examinations on the Constitution for all public representatives

·         Two term limit for each public representatives

·         Abolition of privileges for public representatives (for example: pension after only two years)

·         Prohibit parliamentarians from working in other professions during their terms

·         Salary of parliamentarians aligned to the average salary

·         Prevention of overlapping of offices for MPs (for example, one could not be both a mayor and an MP)

·         Ineligibility of convicted criminals for public office

·         Direct participation in any public meeting by citizens via the web

·         Introduction of a true class action

Despite many of these policies being absolutely fantastic for dealing with corruption, the economic calamity of Italy does need to be the top priority.

Unfortunately all this means is that Italians will be back at the polls very soon, the nature of the Senate makes it so. The main coalition will try and form some sort of minority government, but it will be weak will not last long. Keep an eye on Italy in the coming months, this is likely to be the latest flashpoint in the Eurozone crisis.