[release][img]http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2011/10/14/2011101410225234112_20.jpg[/img]
[B]Berlusconi scraped through the vote of confidence, despite the scandals and economic stagnation plaguing him.[/B]
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has won a confidence vote in the Italian lower house of parliament.
The centre-right government, which called the vote on Tuesday after failing to pass a routine budget provision, won Friday's motion with 316 votes in favour and 301 votes against.
Berlusconi would have been forced to tender his resignation if he had lost the vote.
Al Jazeera's Claudio Lavanga, reporting from Rome, said: "This vote proved once again that Silvio Berlusconi is one of the greatest survivors in Italian politics.
"This wasn't the first time that he faced a vote of confidence. This was vote number 52 and it is doubtful that his government will survive another round. Early elections are more likely."
[B][I]
Narrow majority[/I][/B]
The result was in doubt until the last minute and even some centre-right members expressed uncertainty and showed nervousness before the vote on whether the government would pull through.
The situation was so tense that some in the centre-right went into last-minute horse-trading meetings with Berlusconi, who is trying to contain a rebellion in his coalition.
There was even doubt until the last minute if the quorum making the vote valid existed since most of the opposition boycotted the first round of the vote.
Francesco Nucara, a coalition parliamentarian, told the chamber he was voting to save the government for the good of the country, but openly expressed dissent with the way Berlusconi was running the centre-right and his choice of ministers.
"You have put some people in your government who would not be worthy to be doorkeepers in some of your companies," Nucara said in his address before the vote.
The prime minister's administration has been plagued by scandals, economic stagnation and intense pressure from financial markets.
Berlusconi was forced to call the vote after his divided and undisciplined coalition suffered a major embarrassment when it failed to pass a routine budget provision on Tuesday.
The prime minister was holding a cabinet meeting immediately after the vote to re-present the budget measure defeated on Tuesday, a result that Berlusconi wrote off as just an "accident" because some parliamentarians arrived late.[/release]
Source: [url=http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2011/10/20111014919196979.html]Al Jazeera[/url]
Here we go again.
Well....shit.
I just wonder how many of them were bribed and how many were threatened.
italy you have a joke government no offense
Here we go again indeed, but not in the way you guys might think (Berlusconi stays in power because there is no better option, you can't just take him down and elect someone better when there isn't one).
Yes Italian politics are shit, no they most probably won't change in a long time.
Hmmm... someone going to be doing something naughty tonight.
It must not be that bad in Italy, cause one would think there would be massive riots if this guy is as crazy and corrupt as I've heard
dodged his 52nd bullet there
I honestly can not believe this man is still in power. After having been involved in so many affairs and scandals, I can't comprehend how people still have confidence in him.
[QUOTE=Ond kaja;32787905]I honestly can not believe this man is still in power. After having been involved in so many affairs and scandals, I can't comprehend how people still have confidence in him.[/QUOTE]
Bush. Two horribly unpopular wars and he didn't even get a single no confidence vote. Blair in the UK aswell not even a scar against his name. Democracy seems to have a hard time getting rid of unpopular leaders.
[QUOTE=MrEndangered;32788253]Bush. Two horribly unpopular wars and he didn't even get a single no confidence vote. Blair in the UK aswell not even a scar against his name. Democracy seems to have a hard time getting rid of unpopular leaders.[/QUOTE]Does the Congress have the authority to file a no confidence vote against the president? There's a difference between Berlusconi and Bush, Berlusconi is the head of government and not directly elected while Bush was the president, elected directly. I have a hard time believing that the Congress can file a motion of no confidence against a directly elected leader. Berlusconi is quite popular in Italy, that's why he's still in power. I am questioning why he is popular, not that he is.
[QUOTE=Ond kaja;32788403]Does the Congress have the authority to file a no confidence vote against the president? There's a difference between Berlusconi and Bush, Berlusconi is the head of government and not directly elected while Bush was the president, elected directly. I have a hard time believing that the Congress can file a motion of no confidence against a directly elected leader. Berlusconi is quite popular in Italy, that's why he's still in power. I am questioning why he is popular, not that he is.[/QUOTE]
Nope, they would have to impeach him, which means he would have needed to do something illegal. What Bush did might have been unpopular, but it wasn't illegal, or at least convictable.
[QUOTE=Ond kaja;32787905]I honestly can not believe this man is still in power. After having been involved in so many affairs and scandals, I can't comprehend how people still have confidence in him.[/QUOTE]
Bribes.
[QUOTE=Spycrabz;32791548]Bribes.[/QUOTE]
^ Doesn't know much about Italian politics.
[QUOTE=cat man;32787629]It must not be that bad in Italy, cause one would think there would be massive riots if this guy is as crazy and corrupt as I've heard[/QUOTE]
Nobody wants to riot in Italy because nobody wants to subject themselves to a stay in an Italian jail or interrogation by Italian police
After all the shit that guy did I wouldn't be surprised at least half of the votes going in his direction have been made by people who died fifty years ago
oh wow, how
as far as I know, most regular italians hate this guy
[QUOTE=YouWithTheFace.;32783936]italy you have a joke government no offense[/QUOTE]
Berlusconi is the least evil of our politicians, just think of the mess people like Craxi from the PSI did back in the 80s-early 90s.
Alright Italian politics 101 time:
- Berlusconi isn't hated by most Italians, as testified by the fact that he wins the elections very often, sometimes even by a landslide (or they just don't dislike him as much as other politicians).
- For all the crazy things Berlusconi does, he's still the best choice (possibly the only choice). Other Italian politicians steal and abuse government power just as much if not even more (only difference is they don't sleep with 7 different girls each week, but that's only because they can't, not because they don't want to). Last time someone other than Berlusconi got elected, the government fell after 1 year, everything went to shit and 1 billion € that was supposed to go to various sectors disappeared (which means it got pocketed by the politicians, and 1 billion € would be a shittonne even for the US, let alone a smaller country like Italy).
-The centre parties are nearly non-existent. The Left wing has no clue, can't do shit and is an amalgamation of everything from reasonable leftwing ideologies to hardcore communism (the kind of people that were double agents for the USSR) and Black Bloc anarchic terrorists. The rightwing that isn't Berlusconi either borders on Neofascism or has no clue, leadership or concrete ideals (if they didn't have Berlusconi).
-The whole political system holds together because of Berlusconi. If he wasn't there, the left wing would dissolve (they are only holding together because Berlusconi would be completely unstoppable otherwise, heck even when they do he still is), the right wing would also crack (maybe not as much as left wing) and be left without a leader.
Let's not even get into the juridical system (you know how people say it's all biased? Well in Italy it really is, it's split between right and left), the media (split as well, both completely biased, though right wing media is a bit less, mostly because they aren't the underdog and don't need to be as much), the syndicates (that dont give a fuck about the worker or the country, only their pockets), and the inequalities between south and north.
TL:DR Berlusconi has been around for so long and is such an important (for the better or for the worse) political figure that the political system is pretty much shaped around him. Also drop your US preconception that the Left is better, in Italy it doesn't work like that. Also you don't vote based on who is best, but on who is better (as in, who is less bad than the others).
[QUOTE=acds;32794074]Alright Italian politics 101 time:
- Berlusconi isn't hated by most Italians, as testified by the fact that he wins the elections very often, sometimes even by a landslide (or they just don't dislike him as much as other politicians).
- For all the crazy things Berlusconi does, he's still the best choice (possibly the only choice). Other Italian politicians steal and abuse government power just as much if not even more (only difference is they don't sleep with 7 different girls each week, but that's only because they can't, not because they don't want to). Last time someone other than Berlusconi got elected, the government fell after 1 year, everything went to shit and 1 billion € that was supposed to go to various sectors disappeared (which means it got pocketed by the politicians, and 1 billion € would be a shittonne even for the US, let alone a smaller country like Italy).
-The centre parties are nearly non-existent. The Left wing has no clue, can't do shit and is an amalgamation of everything from reasonable leftwing ideologies to hardcore communism (the kind of people that were double agents for the USSR) and Black Bloc anarchic terrorists. The rightwing that isn't Berlusconi either borders on Neofascism or has no clue, leadership or concrete ideals (if they didn't have Berlusconi).
-The whole political system holds together because of Berlusconi. If he wasn't there, the left wing would dissolve (they are only holding together because Berlusconi would be completely unstoppable otherwise, heck even when they do he still is), the right wing would also crack (maybe not as much as left wing) and be left without a leader.
Let's not even get into the juridical system (you know how people say it's all biased? Well in Italy it really is, it's split between right and left), the media (split as well, both completely biased, though right wing media is a bit less, mostly because they aren't the underdog and don't need to be as much), the syndicates (that dont give a fuck about the worker or the country, only their pockets), and the inequalities between south and north.
TL:DR Berlusconi has been around for so long and is such an important (for the better or for the worse) political figure that the political system is pretty much shaped around him. Also drop your US preconception that the Left is better, in Italy it doesn't work like that. Also you don't vote based on who is best, but on who is better (as in, who is less bad than the others).[/QUOTE]
Italy is fucked
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