Erstellt am: 23. 2. 2013 - 15:50 Uhr

Broken Italy!

But what impact will a comedian have in these Italian elections? Reality Check heads to Rome.

What do a majority of Italian people want out of their upcoming elections? No doubt everybody would like someone who could wave his or her magic wand over the economy and things would be a whole lot better. The problem is that Italy is very different when it comes to expectations. Dreaming big, though it might be far away from reality, filters into many aspects of life be it sport, culture or politics. We’re often reminded that Italy is an operatic country and Italians cheer the tenor until they boo him off stage.

The return of Silvio?

Back in November 2011, then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was loudly booed and cast aside from his podium, charged with taking his eye of the economy while he partied long and hard. But 15 months are a very long time in politics. And as austerity bites, many Italians are turning once more to Italy’s richest man hoping that he can bring his personal midas touch to the economy.

The former Communist?

The smart money is on Silvio Berlusconi not winning these elections. That honour will probably go Pier Luigi Bersani who leads a centre left coalition. But the problem is that many voters find him boring. Remember this is Italy that needs a tenor, a showman to keep the whole performance together. And the wider question is how stable will any government be without Silvio Berlusconi? Italian politics are volatile during the best of times (how many numbers of governments has Italy had again since the Second World War). And if Bersani fails in say a few months, when a coalition partner decides to leave at the first sign of a difficult economic decision, how strengthened will Silvio Berlusconi be by then?

Italy’s new political force?

There is another interesting aspect to these elections and that is the rise of Beppe Grillo and his Five Star Movement. Beppe Grillo is a comedian from Genoa, a well-known face on television for his satirical work. His anti-establishment Five Star Movement has so far done well in regional elections. Take Sicily as an example, it’s a place that Berlusconi dominated until the last regional elections; Grillo’s party won 15 seats in the local Sicilian parliament.

Beppe Grillo can’t run for political office himself, he’s barred because of a conviction many years ago, but his lively rallies have certainly got the crowds rolling in as he savages the other political parties and their figureheads. So what does he offer apart from hot air? First up, more than half of candidates in the Five Star Movement are women. That’s refreshing in a system that’s dominated by older greying men and in a country which has a very low uptake of female employment.

The problem is though Grillo makes very little mention of how he would take Italy out of its financial mess. Most of his airtime is blame and vitriol; a populist putting on a show but is that what is going to get Italy out of chronic youth unemployment, chronic female unemployment, a workplace system built largely on nepotism ... and add to that corruption, organised crime, a huge north-south divide, treatment of women..... I could go on! The bottom line is that I love going to Italy and have a huge respect for Italian people, I just think they have been constantly let down by promises of miracles.

Listen to a Reality Check Special: Broken Italy, broadcast on Saturday 23.2.12 at 12 midday by clicking below.

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