ITALIAN PRIME minister Silvio Berlusconi has experienced arguably his heaviest electoral defeat in 17 years in public life when the centre-left trounced the centre-right in a series of local elections at the weekend, most notably in mayoral contests in Milan and Naples.
Given the results of the first round of voting two weeks ago, a defeat for Mr Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party had always seemed a possibility.
Few commentators, however, had predicted the kind of “landslide” victory which saw centre-left candidates romp home in the run-off mayoral votes in Cagliari, Cosenza, Grosseto, Novara, Olbia, Rimini and Trieste, as well as in Milan and Naples.
Emblematic of the comprehensive loss was the defeat of the centre-right candidate in Mr Berlusconi’s hometown village of Arcore, just outside Milan, the village which is home to his private Villa San Martino residence, best known as the location for the infamous “Bunga, Bunga” nights of the Rubygate scandal.
No loss weighs more heavily, however, than that of the city of Milan itself, a traditional stronghold not only for media tycoon Berlusconi but also for his coalition partner, the federalist Northern League.
Outgoing Milan mayor Letizia Moratti was beaten 55.1 per cent to 44.9 per cent by centre-left candidate Giuliano Pisapia at the end of an often bitter campaign in which, for the first time ever, Mr. Berlusconi himself appeared to be more of a hindrance than a help to the PDL candidate.
Even more emphatic was the centre-left victory in Naples, where former investigating magistrate Luigi De Magistris defeated centre-right candidate Gianni Lettieri by 65.4 per cent to 34.6 per cent.
Pierluigi Bersani, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party (PD), called on Mr Berlusconi to resign, arguing that the election result had a clear, “national” significance.
“From these elections, it emerges very clearly that the centre-right no longer has the majority in the country . . . We have often asked for Berlusconi’s resignation, even with 10 million signatures.
“Today, there is another reason to repeat this call. After today’s vote, a new political phase is opening and it does so via a simple fact – his resignation.”
The prime minister’s defeat in Milan is a serious setback, not only because he had insisted on putting his own name on the ballot sheet alongside that of Ms Moratti but also because throughout the campaign he attacked those Milan magistrates who, by turns, have charged him with tax evasion, corruption, bribery, money-laundering and, most recently, “exploitation of underage prostitution”.
Indeed, another hearing of the infamous Rubygate sex scandal, a hearing that Mr Berlusconi will not be attending, is scheduled for today in Milan.
The weekend’s defeats seem certain to strain relations in the centre-right coalition, with the Northern League almost certain to lay the blame for the setback on Mr Berlusconi, a point underlined by senior Northern League figure Matteo Salvini, who has called the ballot “a vote against Berlusconi”.
Even the victorious centre-left, however, has cause for reflection, given that the winning candidates in Cagliari, Milan and Naples did not come from the PD but rather from the hardline leftist Ecology and Liberty (SEL) party, led by Puglia governor Nicki Vendola.