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Italian elections

BPSCG said:
Why are they so fascinated by scandals in a foreign country? Slow news day in Copenhagen?
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They are not specificarly fascinated. They just report the scandals as they happen.
No, I meant why is he still in office? Why hasn't there been a vote of no confidence or something before now, if these scandals are so bad? This is not a rhetorical question; I've never completely understood how the parliamentary system works, where there's no set schedule for elections, and where a nasty scandal can bring down a government.
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Just to correct you a bit, there are set schedules for elections. In most European countries they must happen at least every 4 years.

In regard to your other question, scandals can occur, even within the current ruling partners.

Amazing, but true. :)
 
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Rob Lister said:
Just that someone must like him...he must be doing something right.

Are these scandals of his own making or are they the result of media fishing expeditions/advisary mud slinging?
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The scandals are of his own making. The problem is that any coalition in Italy must incorporate at least 10 Parties. The coalition offered by Romano Prodi has, as far as I've been informed, 14 parties.

Most Italiens are not confident that an administration based on 14 parties is stable.
 
BPSCG said:
Why are they so fascinated by scandals in a foreign country? Slow news day in Copenhagen?
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Italy has the potential to be a major player in europe. Berlusconi also provides comic relife

No, I meant why is he still in office?
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You seen the alturnatives? There just isn't anyone on the right who can touch him and the right currently outnumbers the left. Berlusconi also controls most of the media.

Why hasn't there been a vote of no confidence or something before now, if these scandals are so bad?
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Becuase right wing politicians have servival instincts. Take down Berlusconi and you hand the left the election on a plate. You also have the issue that he has not been convicted of anything. Finaly this is italy. If they got rid of someone every time there was a scandle they would never get anything done.
 
Rob Lister said:
Just that someone must like him...he must be doing something right.
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Sure. He controls the media. He has charisma (or at least the ability to appeal to the italian population) by the bucket load.

Are these scandals of his own making or are they the result of media fishing expeditions/advisary mud slinging?
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If by that you mean is there any substence behind them then yes there is.
 
geni said:
Minimal growth for the last two years and the whole parmalat mess.
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what is a parmalat?

minimal growth as compared to...?

See, I don't know this country very well...well, other than it's where we get our mafia :)

I'm just trying to get some idea of scale.

gdp
employement
etc
 
Rob Lister said:
what is a parmalat?
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A company. Rather a large one. Ran into a few problems:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3430951.stm

Has come out of it better than expected. The coumpany is a lot smaller but it is still around

minimal growth as compared to...?
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Britian. Most other western industrialised nations

An average GDP growth of 0.7% over the last five years

In 2005 it was either zero or near zero depending on your source.

Unemployment is high even by continental european standards.
 
DanishDynamite said:
Basically, I'm very, very tired of Berlusconi. At the same time, I don't want a communist elected. It's a damm hard choice.
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I don't suposse you could provide some documentation for the new and stunning revelation that Prodi is secretly a communist?
 
Kerberos said:
I don't suposse you could provide some documentation for the new and stunning revelation that Prodi is secretly a communist?
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The UK's "Racist Fruitcake" party (UKIP) has claimed that he was the KGB's man in Italy, which would probably imply a degree of secret communistness.

(if it were true)
 
BPSCG said:
Why are they so fascinated by scandals in a foreign country? Slow news day in Copenhagen?
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Don't know about Denmark, but Finnish media has made a couple of scandals out of Berlusconi's disparaging comments of Finland. But those are not the reasons for my dislike of him.

Finland and Italy are both part of EU. EU collects a lot of money from the member states that is then shuffled around in various projects and like. Where the money goes is decided largely by cabinet politics in Brussels. When the leader of a country comes across a scheming crook that cares only about his personal interest, it casts a shadow of doubt over the folk that he sends up to EU bureaucracy to take part in the process that decides where the money flows. And part of that money is taken from my wallet.
 
What does "communist" mean today ? Communists in Europe are as capitalists as right-wingers - at least in the vast majority of the cases. There is as much difference as there is between supporting Inter and Milan.
 
It's getting interesting:

Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is refusing to accept defeat in the nation's general election, saying the results are "not clear cut".

In a letter to be printed in an Italian newspaper on Saturday he says Italy faces a "stalemate... in which there will be neither winners nor losers".

However official figures show there are too few disputed ballots to deprive the centre-left coalition of victory.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4911276.stm
 
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