Silvio Berlusconi vows to resign

Post Betty, I am still stunned by the attitude of the PM and what he gets away with. Well now he has said that he is going to resign now. More time for bunga bunga parties for Silvio.


8 November 2011 Last updated at 21:28
Italian crisis: Silvio Berlusconi vows to resign

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has confirmed he intends to resign after key economic reforms have been approved. His announcement follows a vote in parliament on the budget in which he appeared to lose his majority. Both allies and opponents have been urging Mr Berlusconi to step down as Italy's debt crisis grows.

Borrowing rates have shot up in recent days, raising concerns over whether Italy can service its debts. While Italy's deficit is relatively low, investors are concerned that the combination of Italy's low growth rate and 1.9tn euro (£1.63tn; $2.6tn) debt could make it the next country to fall in the eurozone debt crisis.

The European commissioner for economic affairs, Olli Rehn, described the country's economic and financial situation as "very worrying". Mr Berlusconi has dominated Italian politics for the last 17 years. He has survived more than 50 confidence votes, but has recently become mired in a series of legal and sex scandals as well as the political and economic crises.

'Appropriate consultations'

The euro rose sharply against the dollar following the news of Mr Berlusconi's decision. Speaking on TV, the prime minister said he would have preferred to call early elections but the final decision rested with President Giorgio Napolitano. "Once this finance law is approved, along with the amendments on everything which Europe has asked of us and which the Eurogroup has asked for, I will resign, so that the head of state can open consultations," he said.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says there has been speculation that an interim government of technocrats might be ushered in, a move that Mr Berlusconi clearly opposes. But the question of who led the government was less important than doing "what is right for the country", Mr Berlusconi added.

Earlier, President Napolitano announced the decision in a statement. "Once this engagement is fulfilled, the prime minister will hand in his mandate to the head of state who will proceed with appropriate consultations, paying close attention to the positions and proposals of all political forces," he said.

Mr Berlusconi had shown "his awareness of the implications of the results of today's vote" as well as "concern for the urgent need to give prompt answers to the expectations of European partners", Mr Napolitano added. Correspondents say the budget law is expected to be passed by the end of the month. But the opposition is looking for the measure to be approved in 10-15 days. Opposition parties will meet on Wednesday morning to discuss timings. Mr Berlusconi won Tuesday's vote, but only because the opposition did not take part. Only 308 MPs voted in favour, far below the 316 needed for an absolute majority. Both coalition ally Umberto Bossi of the Northern League and opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani had called on the prime minister to step down.

Market volatility

International money markets are now forcing Italy to pay interest rates that could eventually ruin it, putting extraordinary pressure on Mr Berlusconi, our correspondent says. Doubt about Italy's governance and its ability to repay its debts have sent the markets seesawing over the past two days. On Tuesday, the cost of government borrowing spiked at a new record of 6.76% after the vote, around the 7% threshold at which Portugal and Ireland were forced to accept bailouts.

Correspondents say the government has been slow to implement austerity measures, and the prime minister's various scandals have been seen as an unwelcome distraction at a critical time. Mr Berlusconi, who first took power in 1994, is Italy's longest serving post-war prime minister. He is also thought to be worth $9bn (£5.6bn), and controls an empire spanning media, advertising, insurance, food and construction. He has been accused of embezzlement, tax fraud and false accounting, and attempting to bribe a judge. But he has always denied wrongdoing and has never been definitively convicted. Mr Berlusconi's political struggles have been accompanied by a string of lascivious reports in the Italian press about his private life, culminating in his trial on charges of paying for sex with an under-age prostitute.

Link to BBC article

Some of Silvio's gretest hits

8 November 2011 Last updated at 15:41
In quotes: Italy's Silvio Berlusconi in his own words

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is famed for making his views known in blunt, colourful, sometimes combative language.

At times he strays into what one of his predecessors, Massimo D'Alema, described as "planetary gaffes".

Here is a selection of quotations from Mr Berlusconi on a range of topics over his years in and out of office.

On Italy's debt crisis

Speaking on 13 August 2011, as he announced a raft of new austerity measures: "Our hearts are bleeding. This government had bragged that it never put its hands in the pockets of Italians but the world situation changed. We are facing the biggest global challenge."

But on 4 November 2011, he told a news conference at the end of a G20 summit: "The life in Italy is the life of a wealthy country: consumptions haven't diminished, it's hard to find seats on planes, our restaurants are full of people."

Scandals over his private life

Mr Berlusconi - caught in a series of scandals over his private life, including his alleged dealings with younger women and prostitutes - has frequently turned to a pithy phrase in an attempt to shrug off the allegations.

For instance, in April 2011, he said: "When asked if they would like to have sex with me, 30% of women said, 'Yes', while the other 70% replied, 'What, again?'"

At the end of the previous year, as allegations swirled about escorts and "Bunga, bunga" parties, the PM deadpanned the line: "I unfortunately have never in my life been to a wild party."

However, the talk of scandal has got under his collar at times.

He told Il Giornale newspaper in an interview on 12 August 2009 that he had nothing to apologise for and no skeletons in his cupboard: "I deserve to be left in peace: enough violations of privacy."

Questioned on the sex allegations in late July, Mr Berlusconi admitted: "I am not a saint, you've all understood that."

In an earlier interview with gossip magazine Chi, Mr Berlusconi denied he pays for sex, adding: "I never understood where the satisfaction is when you're missing the pleasure of conquest."

More bluntly, in November 2010 Mr Berlusconi hit out with the following: "It's better to like beautiful girls than to be gay."

Battles with the courts

On the news in October 2009 that Italy's constitutional court had overturned a law granting him immunity from prosecution while in office:

"Lucky that there's Silvio, otherwise we'd be completely in the hands of these gentlemen of the left... I will defend myself in the courts, exposing the accusers to ridicule, showing all Italians what stuff they're made of and what stuff I'm made of."

Earlier, he insisted that the charges against him were farcical and that his administration would "govern for five years with or without the law".

His view of Italy's judiciary in June 2008: a "cancerous growth".

On judges pursuing former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti on charges relating to the Mafia: "Those judges are doubly mad! In the first place, because they are politically mad, and in the second place because they are mad anyway.

"If they do that job, it is because they are anthropologically different from the rest of the human race."

Politics and the Italian Left

In November 2011, facing the biggest crisis of his leadership, he said: "I want to look those who want to betray me in the face."

As a spat with his former wife hit the papers in late April 2009, Mr Berlusconi rebuffed her accusations that his party planned to field attractive young women as European election candidates: "We want to renew our political class with people who are cultured and well prepared... [Candidates standing for my party would be unlike the] malodorous and badly-dressed people who represent certain parties in parliament."

He is quoted as saying on 9 April 2008: "The left has no taste, even when it comes to women."

On left-wing voters at a conference of retailers during the 2006 campaign: "I trust the intelligence of the Italian people too much to think that there are so many pricks around who would vote against their own best interests."

Promising to put family values at the centre of his campaign for the April 2006 general election: "I will try to meet your expectations, and I promise from now on, two-and-a-half months of absolute sexual abstinence, until [election day on] 9 April." He later insisted the pledge was "just a joke".

On Mussolini

"Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini used to send people on vacation in internal exile."

In the wake of 11 September

"We must be aware of the superiority of our civilisation, a system that has guaranteed well-being, respect for human rights and - in contrast with Islamic countries - respect for religious and political rights, a system that has as its value understanding of diversity and tolerance...

"The West will continue to conquer peoples, even if it means a confrontation with another civilisation, Islam, firmly entrenched where it was 1,400 years ago."

His response to worldwide condemnation of the above speech: "They have tried to hang me on an isolated word, taken out of context from my whole speech."

"I did not say anything against the Islamic civilisation... It's the work of some people in the Italian leftist press who wanted to tarnish my image and destroy my long-standing relations with Arabs and Muslims."

On his alleged conflict of interest as prime minister and one of Italy's biggest tycoons, with major media holdings: "If I, taking care of everyone's interests, also take care of my own, you can't talk about a conflict of interest."

President Obama's skin colour

Of Barack Obama, upon his election as US president in November 2008, he said: "[Mr Obama is] young, handsome and suntanned".

His response to the wave of criticism following the remark: ''God save us from imbeciles... How can you take such a great compliment negatively?"

An unabashed Mr Berlusconi rehashed the jibe on his return from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh on 28 September 2009: "Ah, Barack Obama. You won't believe it, but the two of them sunbathe together, because the wife is also tanned."

The L'Aquila earthquake

In general Mr Berlusconi won praise for his handling of an earthquake that hit central Italy on 6 April - except for his advice to homeless survivors that they should see their plight "like a weekend of camping."

Women

In September 2010, speaking at a youth rally, saying women should marry rich, older men: "Women are lining up to marry me. Legend has it, I know how to do it."

In January 2007, Mr Berlusconi was forced to issue a public apology to his wife, after she accused him of flirting with two women.

"If I wasn't already married, I would marry you right away," Mrs Berlusconi accused him of telling women at a TV awards dinner.

"With you, I'd go anywhere," he was quoted as telling another woman.

On Italian secretaries (comments made at the New York Stock Exchange): "Italy is now a great country to invest in... today we have fewer communists and those who are still there deny having been one. Another reason to invest in Italy is that we have beautiful secretaries... superb girls."

On himself

After his immunity from prosecution was lifted by the Constitutional Court in October 2009, he declared:

"I am without doubt the person who's been the most persecuted in the entire history of the world and the history of man."

"In my opinion, and not only mine, I am the best prime minister we can find today."

Previously, on the same theme: "I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."

"The best political leader in Europe and in the world."

"There is no-one on the world stage who can compete with me."

"Out of love for Italy, I felt I had to save it from the left."

"The right man in the right job."

"I don't need to go into office for the power. I have houses all over the world, stupendous boats... beautiful airplanes, a beautiful wife, a beautiful family... I am making a sacrifice."

Yet by May 2010, he appeared in a chastened mood when he told a news conference at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris: "As prime minister, I have never had the feeling that I was in power."

To a German newspaper:

"In Italy I am almost seen as German for my workaholism. Also I am from Milan, the city where people work the hardest. Work, work, work - I am almost German."

Other politicians

In June 2005, on enlisting the support of Finnish President Tarja Halonen for Italy to host the European Food Safety Authority: "I had to use all my playboy tactics."

Mr Berlusconi added insult to injury by saying that he had had to "endure the Finnish diet", such as smoked herrings.

To German MEP Martin Schulz, at start of Italy's EU presidency in July 2003: "I know that in Italy there is a man producing a film on Nazi concentration camps - I shall put you forward for the role of Kapo (guard chosen from among the prisoners) - you would be perfect."

During the controversy raging over the above remark: "I'll try to soften it and become boring, maybe even very boring, but I am not sure I will be able to do it."

At the Brussels summit, at the end of Italy's EU presidency, in December 2003: "Let's talk about football and women." (Turning to four-times-married German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder.) "Gerhard, why don't you start?"

On his first meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 2002, Berlusconi complimented him with the words: "Mr Rasmussen is not only a great colleague, he's also the best-looking prime minister in Europe."

On Aids

A joke about Aids told by Mr Berlusconi: "An Aids patient asks his doctor whether the sand treatment prescribed him will do any good. 'No', the doctor replies, 'but you will get accustomed to living under the earth'."

His response to critics who said the joke was offensive: "They have lost their minds; they really have come to the end of the line, indeed they have gone beyond it. I would advise them, too, to undergo sand treatment..."
Link

good news for italy and italians !

How did this buffoon get into power in the first place?

Good riddance! Of course, he leaves the country in financial shambles - such a tool.

exactly he seem to see that the near future in Italy is without fun as he used to so he just leave the ship damage and escape what a man he is ,shame .

Couldn't agree with you more lolo. I feel sorry for the people of Italy who are left to clean up his mess.

I do hope that the future leadership concentrates on helping the country out come out of this stronger than before.

I wish them the best and all the luck in the world because they will need it.

As a goodbye gift we could send him Eli.
Ops, sorry wrong thread.

But... he may already have her???

You know what they say- Rats always leave a sinking ship. Hopefully once he leaves, the ship can right itself without his considerable weight. I pray it happens soon.

zizi wrote:As a goodbye gift we could send him Eli.
Ops, sorry wrong thread.

Great, they deserve each other. Jerks, both of them.

pattygirl wrote:You know what they say- Rats always leave a sinking ship. Hopefully once he leaves, the ship can right itself without his considerable weight. I pray it happens soon.

Silvio Berlusconi said in a article that he wants to leave "sh_tty" Italy. Great, Silvio, just remember to clean up the mess you made From what I have read, Silvio has Mafia connections, maybe he can be their next boss.

He's doing what all steadfast politicians do -- drink coffee, shoot the bull and leave others to clean up the mess.

We have plenty of Mafia in the New Jersey hills, maybe he can come here and be the boss. Although the Italian Mafia have nothing on the NJ Mafia. Haha, I'll get my cousin Nunzio after you. LOL

Yea for Italy, don't know the history of this man if he ever did anything good while in office, but it seems that he has done nothing but abuse his power for his own needs. The country will be better off without his trash stinking up their beautiful country.

lucy wrote:Yea for Italy, don't know the history of this man if he ever did anything good while in office, but it seems that he has done nothing but abuse his power for his own needs. The country will be better off without his trash stinking up their beautiful country.

Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Sil-vee-oh has got to go!! Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Sil-vee-oh has got to go!!

hope soon



REALLY SOON


but
I fear for something bad
because
he surely wants to stuff this bigbig law
we are forced to enact ASAP
to save ouself and Europe too
with some laws 'cutted upon him'
and his personal probs: heritage to his first and second marriage sons
save his companies
Mediaset, for example, went down a lot, today, so he wants, because his sinking firms, to PUT ITALY AND THE WHOLE EUROPE IN DANGER

this is that..... kind of living being


-

HOPE OUR PRESIDENT, GIORGIO NAPOLITANO, SAVE US ALL


-


btw yesterday night, on a tv program called BALLARO' Lucia Annunziata, amazing journalist, said the problem is also in a governament of transition, all people would say we are not able to put togethere another parliament

but if mr youknowwho will try his old tricks the opposition will fight
the law will stay still
and it would be PRECIOUS TIME WASTED!!!!

FOREVER!




-the last
months ago one of Italia dei Valori side asked for a cut
no more 3.000 € monthly pension for working only a little while at the parliament

in that time of crisis it would have been a great saving

bet what they voted.....


vid here
Italian only
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(from Report, Rai3)

the answer

so
it seems he will be out soon (we all hope) and said yes to a 'technical government'
and the new law on Saturday


La situazione è troppo grave per poter contrapporre gli interessi del partito o personali a quelli del Paese. E' arrivato così il via libera di Silvio Berlusconi all'opzione Mario Monti. Il Capo dell'esecutivo ha sentito nel pomeriggio Giorgio Napolitano per analizzare la situazione politica ed economica ed i possibili sbocchi. Non può esserci una soluzione che escluda chi ha vinto le elezioni, ma deve essere una soluzione a tempo e con un programma preciso, sarebbe stato il ragionamento del presidente del Consiglio che in ogni caso ha dato l'ok al nome di Monti.

Apparently we are in a boatload of trouble financially due Italy's outstanding debt. Articles from Oz publication so please consider the time difference and exchange rates. Thanks Silvio.

Italy panic sparks $30b sell-off
November 10, 2011 - 5:05PM

About $30 billion was wiped from the value of Australian shares today as Italy emerged as the new centre of concern in the euro-zone debt crisis. Both major sharemarket indices fell to their lowest level in a month over concerns about Italy’s ability to service its debt mountain and the implications for the future of the euro as a common currency.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index shed 102 points, or 2.35 per cent, at 4244.1 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index slumped 98.9 points, or 2.24 per cent, to 4307.3 points. Regional markets joined the rout, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index falling 2.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng diving 4.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi sliding 3.7 per cent.

Global investors were rattled after Italy’s main borrowing rate blew past 7 per cent - putting the country at the front and centre of a debt crisis that had until recently focused mainly on Greece. The 7 per cent figure is considered an important level because Greece, Portugal and Ireland required bailouts from other nations when interest rates on their bonds hit that mark.

As the third-largest economy in Europe, Italy’s $US2.6 trillion debt is considered too large for other European countries to absorb. A default could lead to the disintegration of the euro currency used by 17 nations or a debilitating recession. RBS Morgans private client adviser Trent Muller said the sharemarket continued to be driven by economic uncertainty rather than the fundamentals of equity markets.

‘‘A lot of people are expecting certain commentary could come out tonight that could appease concerns,’’ Mr Muller said.

He said there was the potential for Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign tonight and for an easy transition to the next leader.

‘‘If that occurs, one would assume markets will be a little bit more comfortable ... and we’ll get a global rally back to levels that we were at two or three days ago.’’

US stocks slide on Italian debt woes
November 10, 2011 - 9:17AM .

US stocks tumbled 3 per cent on Wednesday in the market's worst day since mid-August as a spike in Italian bond yields signaled the European debt crisis had worsened. All 10 S&P sectors were down, but S&P financials were the hardest hit on worries about European exposure, dropping 5.4 per cent.

US stock markets have grown more chaotic in response to rising volatility in European debt markets, and investors have trouble keeping up with a steady stream of headlines and pricing in how the crisis might play out.

"The market has turned into a derivative of what happens in Europe now," said Craig Hodges, president of Hodges Capital Management in Dallas, Texas. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 389.24 points, or 3.20 per cent, at 11,780.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 46.82 points, or 3.67 per cent, at 1229.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 105.84 points, or 3.88 per cent, at 2621.65.

Dominating market moves are "day traders and people trying to capture and skim fractions of decimals off stocks," Hodges said.

The spread of the crisis to Italy has lifted it to a new level. European Union sources said German and French officials were discussing drastic plans, including an overhaul that would possibly create a smaller euro zone.

Italy's bond yields shot up to 7.502 per cent, a new high since the euro was introduced in 1999. Investors were forced to sell Italian bonds after a European clearing house increased the collateral needed to borrow against that debt. The 7 per cent level was the point where European nations, including Ireland and Portugal, had to seek bailouts as their financing costs ballooned.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's insistence on elections instead of an interim government raised concerns of prolonged instability and delays to economic reform. Italy has replaced Greece at the center of the euro zone debt crisis and is seen teetering on the cusp of requiring a bailout. A deal on forming a Greek national unity government collapsed while economic turmoil continued.

"Italian bonds are essentially serving as another fear index like the VIX, and right now they're reflecting a lot of fear," said Charles Reinhard, deputy chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in New York.

Italian debt fears just became reality
November 10, 2011 - 11:21AM

Italy's borrowing costs have reached levels analysts believe are unsustainable, as the promised resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi fails to reassure financial markets. With the ink yet to dry on the latest desperate rescue package for the European Union, the worst fears of global leaders, bankers and investors last night became a reality.

The political turmoil engulfing Italy, with the apparent resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, tipped the balance on European markets as bond traders dumped Italian debt, forcing the 10-year yield beyond 7.5 per cent. Contagion became the catchcry as the realisation dawned on markets that Italy might be too big to bail out.

If Italy was to have difficulty meeting commitments over its $US2.6 trillion in an orderly debt market, last night's panic has pushed it to the brink. Given Europe's new Emergency Stabilisation Fund has nowhere near enough in the kitty to cover Italy's debt, let alone bail out Greece, fear fed upon itself on European markets before turning to panic as trading began in North America.

Wall Street traders wasted no time overnight. As soon as the New York market opened, red ink splashed across the boards concentrating on banks and financial stocks. It was an unrelenting session of selling with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 430 points at its worst.

Longer term, it appears Europe will be unable to avoid recession which will adversely affect global trade. Europe is China's biggest trading partner and China is Australia's biggest trading partner. Americans, meanwhile, after celebrating a relatively robust corporate earnings season based mainly around a lower dollar and better offshore earnings, are now worried about the effects of a strong greenback and a possible slowdown in the global economy.

The chronic indecision and petty political games that have dogged Europe for the past two years as its debt crisis has deepened now threaten to curb the nascent global recovery.

don't know what to say

Here is my response to Silviio Berlusconi: Va c@c@!

eh
good idea