Silvio Berlusconi vows to grab more power in Italy at Parliament’s expense
Silvio Berlusconi vowed yesterday to change the Italian constitution to give himself greater power as Prime Minister at the expense of Parliament, which he denounced as “useless”.
“You have a Government that is for the first time run by an entrepreneur and a team of ministers that resembles a company board in its efficiency, but we have to reckon with a legislature that must be modernised because the premier has virtually no power,” Mr Berlusconi told the annual conference of Confindustria, an employers’ federation.
He said that a Bill changing the constitution would have to take the form of a “popular initiative” taken outside parliament, as deputies and senators would not undermine their own power. Under Italian law, Bills can be proposed not only by deputies, but also by groups of 500,000 citizens. “You can’t expect turkeys to vote to bring forward Christmas,” he said — adding that the Lower House should be reduced to 100 deputies.
Mr Berlusconi sought to increase his powers when last in office in 2005. The move was passed by parliament but without the required two-thirds majority, and overturned by a referendum the following year.
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Had it become reality, that reform would have given the Prime Minister the power to appoint and sack ministers as well as dissolve parliament and call elections. At present only parliament can dismiss a minister in a no-confidence vote.
Mr Berlusconi said that Italy’s postwar constitution gave the Prime Minister little power because it “was written after the Fascist years”.
He added: “We are faced with infinite difficulties because of a bureaucracy that opposes everything. I, who have always considered myself a revolutionary, believe that revolutions are easier than reforms.”
Dario Franceschini, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said: “I would like to sound an alarm bell. We are well beyond conflicts of interest and control of television. Berlusconi wants to take everything over.
“His models are the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, from Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan — countries in which the personal power of the leader interweaves with state and economic power.”
Gianfranco Fini, who is co-leader with Mr Berlusconi of the ruling People of Liberty but also Speaker of the Lower House, said that parliament was not “useless” but a democratic check on the power of the Government. The Prime Minister has faced calls to step down this week after judges who convicted David Mills, his British tax lawyer, for perjury said that they had done so because Mills was given a $600,000 bribe to give false testimony on Mr Berlusconi’s behalf in corruption trials in the 1990s. Mr Berlusconi said that the country’s judges were motivated by “hatred and jealousy” and denied that he had paid Mills a bribe.
The Italian magistrates’ association responded by accusing Mr Berlusconi of making personal attacks designed to undermine the justice system.
The Prime Minister has postponed plans to address Parliament on the Mills affair until after the European elections in June. The centre-left opposition said that Mr Berlusconi was reluctant to face criticism in parliament over the Mills case and for his refusal to repeal a law giving himself immunity.
He could also face awkward questions over his relationship with Noemi Letizia, an 18-year-old aspiring model who calls him “Papi” and is at the centre of demands by his wife, Veronica Lario, for a divorce.
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