Italy: Silvio Berlusconi vote win sparks Rome clashes
Police fired tear gas as cars were set on fire and demonstrators threw eggs, paint and stones at parliament buildings.
Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has narrowly won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament by 314 to 311, prompting street protests.
In Rome, violent clashes have left 50 police officers and at least 40 protesters injured.
The marchers set fire to cars, threw stones and overturned bins in Italy's worst street violence in recent years.
Mr Berlusconi's critics say he is too deeply mired in scandal and corruption allegations to remain in office.
The Italian prime minister, 74, is halfway through a five-year term but his position has been weakened by a series of scandals, largely involving his relationships with women.
He has also lost the support of his closest political ally, Gianfranco Fini, along with dozens of his supporters, depriving him of his automatic majority in the lower house.
Opposition remains
Thousands of people gathered in Rome and Italy's other major cities to demand a change in government.
Police fired tear gas on the protesters in Rome and several explosions - thought to be fireworks - were heard. Demonstrators threw eggs, paint and stones at parliament buildings.
Inside, two opposition deputies switched sides for the final vote, giving Mr Berlusconi a narrow victory.
Scuffles broke out in the lower house after opposition MP Katia Polidori voted in favour of Mr Berlusconi, and voting was briefly suspended.
Speaking in parliament, former anti-corruption judge Antonio Di Pietro - who now leads the opposition Italy of Values party - told Mr Berlusconi he was finished.
"Whatever the result of the vote you have bought, one thing is clear. You do not have a political majority that would allow you to govern," he said.
"Whether you like it or not, you have reached the end of the line for your political experience."
Last week, Mr Pietro made a formal complaint alleging that Mr Berlusconi was trying to buy votes. Rome magistrates have now begun an investigation.
There were also protests elsewhere.
In the Sicilian regional capital, Palermo, 500 students occupied the main airport runway.
In Turin in the north, students occupied the railway station, while in Venice they held a demonstration on the famous Rialto Bridge.
The demonstrations follow weeks of bitter protests against the government, which has announced austerity measures, including cuts in education spending.
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome says although Mr Berlusconi's lobbying has paid off for now, he will still face considerable opposition to his leadership.
Mr Berlusconi has become notorious for his gaffes. At a dinner with his MPs the night before the vote, the newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted him as saying: "I am unable to say 'No', I have never been able to, I've been lucky that no gay person has ever come to proposition me."
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
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A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
lance wrote:Other than abusing his power to bang 16 year olds, how has he been as a president?
Utter disaster. Imagine Tony Soprano in charge of a country.
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
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A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
I am truly amazed this person is in charge of a nation and amazed even more he still holds on to power. Whenever I see Berlusconi, I have the La Piovra tune in my mind and I can't shake it off. This is a sad day for Italy.
Lì ci sono chiese, macerie, moschee e questure, lì frontiere, prezzi inaccessibile e freddure
Lì paludi, minacce, cecchini coi fucili, documenti, file notturne e clandestini
Qui incontri, lotte, passi sincronizzati, colori, capannelli non autorizzati,
Uccelli migratori, reti, informazioni, piazze di Tutti i like pazze di passioni...
...La tranquillità è importante ma la libertà è tutto!
lance wrote:Other than abusing his power to bang 16 year olds, how has he been as a president?
Utter disaster. Imagine Tony Soprano in charge of a country.
I was thinking more like Larry David, mostly because of the very public gaffes.
I suppose that the failure of the vote means there's no realistic chance of seeing him out of office until the next elections, barring a heart attack?
Turns out that a five way cross over between It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Ali G Show, Fargo, Idiocracy and Veep is a lot less funny when you're actually living in it.
lance wrote:Other than abusing his power to bang 16 year olds, how has he been as a president?
Utter disaster. Imagine Tony Soprano in charge of a country.
Silvio Berlusconi is the perfect example of why letting your media ownership getting concentrated into a small elite of people is a bad idea.
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi
"Problem is, while the Germans have had many mea culpas and quite painfully dealt with their history, the South is still hellbent on painting themselves as the real victims. It gives them a special place in the history of assholes" - Covenant
"Over three million died fighting for the emperor, but when the war was over he pretended it was not his responsibility. What kind of man does that?'' - Saburo Sakai
lance wrote:Other than abusing his power to bang 16 year olds, how has he been as a president?
Utter disaster. Imagine Tony Soprano in charge of a country.
Paulie more like than Tony mate.
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
No no, you see Tony. Because Berlusconi is competent at evading justice, likes whores and is the head of a criminal enterprise.
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
------------
A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
Thanas wrote:No no, you see Tony. Because Berlusconi is competent at evading justice, likes whores and is the head of a criminal enterprise.
Pretty easy to avoid any persecution when you basically form public opinion like he does, he's still more like Paulie than Tony especially with the whore line, Tony was more a goomah kind of guy.
Η ζωή, η ζωή εδω τελειώνει!
"Science is one cold-hearted bitch with a 14" strap-on" - Masuka 'Dexter'
"Angela is not the woman you think she is Gabriel, she's done terrible things"
"So have I, and I'm going to do them all to you." - Sylar to Arthur 'Heroes'
Italy, the embarassing pimple on the arse of Europe.
I genuinely wonder what the hell goes on in what passes for a mind in someone like Berlusconi, is he suffering from tertiary stage syphilis?
So I stare wistfully at the Lightning for a couple of minutes. Two missiles, sharply raked razor-thin wings, a huge, pregnant belly full of fuel, and the two screamingly powerful engines that once rammed it from a cold start to a thousand miles per hour in under a minute. Life would be so much easier if our adverseries could be dealt with by supersonic death on wings - but alas, Human resources aren't so easily defeated.
Thanas wrote:No no, you see Tony. Because Berlusconi is competent at evading justice, likes whores and is the head of a criminal enterprise.
As we are already on the subject of fictional mob bosses leading a country, going by the movies Michael or Vito Corleone would have probably been much better at it than Berlusconi...
The Corleones display more tact, good taste and dignity than Berlusconi.
If Berlusconi had lost the vote, would he have gone aboard to hide in his Antigua villa?
Turns out that a five way cross over between It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the Ali G Show, Fargo, Idiocracy and Veep is a lot less funny when you're actually living in it.
