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From The Times

February 22, 2007

Prodi quits after Senate defeat

Richard Owen in Rome

Romano Prodi resigned as Italian Prime Minister last night after only nine months in office when he lost a key parliamentary vote over the pro-American pillars of his centre-left Government’s foreign policy.

President Napolitano accepted Mr Prodi’s resignation, but may still ask him to remain in office if the parties in his coalition can find enough common ground to carry on. The Prime Minister and the President will meet today, together with leaders of the factions in the nine-party coalition, to seek a way out of the crisis.

Silvio Berlusconi, the opposition leader, who was ousted by Mr Prodi at the last general election, said that the Prime Minister was “obliged” to step down. “Foreign policy involves the role and image of Italy in the world and the life of our soldiers committed to international peace missions,” he said.

Rome was plunged into political turmoil after Mr Prodi failed to muster enough Senate votes to approve the continuing commitment to Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan and the expansion of a US military base at Vicenza.

Aides to Mr Prodi said that President Napolitano could ask him to try to form a new government, either with a different coalition or with the same partners but a different distribution of portfolios.

Dario Franceschini, a coalition leader, claimed that the coalition parties — which range from Catholics to communists — were “ready to reaffirm their full faith” in Mr Prodi. The President is thought likely to want to avoid dissolving Parliament and calling new elections in a deeply divided nation.

However, Paolo Mieli, the editor of the influential daily Corriere della Sera, said that it was difficult to see how a new Prodi coalition could resolve the tensions within the Centre Left that have bedevilled Mr Prodi since he narrowly won elections last April. A “Prodi-Mark II” Government might be even weaker, he said.

The turmoil was sparked when the foreign policy vote in the Senate fell two short of the 160 required. The governing coalition has had a Senate majority of a single vote. But several senators on the Left deserted Mr Prodi yesterday over his commitment for Italian troops to remain in Afghanistan and the enlargement of the Vicenza base.

The issue was not, technically, a vote of no confidence. But the Foreign Minister, Massimo D’Alema, had offered a hostage to fortune when he said that the Government should quit if it could not command a majority in such a key vote.

After an emergency Cabinet meeting, Mr Prodi consulted President Napolitano about whether his Government could continue. The President has the power to call new elections, ask Mr Prodi to try and continue or ask another centre-left leader or a nonparty “techno-crat” to try to form a government. Clemente Mastella, the Justice Minister, said that one way out of the crisis would be for the Government to call a confidence vote in both Houses of Parliament.

He said that that would show whether the Government had lost its overall majority or had merely lost on a single issue. “We need to check if those who have shown uncertainty or said ‘No’ today will say ‘No’ to the Government per se,” he said.

Mr D’Alema’s tactic was to bring into line pacifists on the Left. The gamble failed, however, despite an eloquent hour-long speech by Mr Prodi pleading for unity.

The often-turbulent coalition has lost several Senate votes on minor issues, but until yesterday had scraped through important votes despite its wafer-thin majority — sometimes with help from the handful of unelected life senators.

But yesterday Giulio Andre-otti, a life senator and former prime minister, who had indicated that he would vote in favour of troops in Afghanistan, abstained, while another life senator, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a former president, who normally backs the Government, was absent because of illness.

Some opinion polls put support for the Centre Right at 57 per cent, with the Centre Left on 42 per cent, a reflection of disillusionment with the Government’s squabbles over issues from homosexual civil unions to the economy. However, a poll in La Repubblica yesterday said that 56 per cent of Italians approved of the Government’s foreign policy, with 29 per cent disapproving and 15 per cent holding no firm view.

Mr Prodi was last in office between 1996 and 1998, but was brought down on that occasion too by hard-left allies.

Pier Ferdinando Casini, a centre-right leader, said that Mr Prodi was “pretending not to see” the problems of mustering a majority to stay in power. “If he wants to go ahead, good luck to him, but the country is paying the price,” he said.

Yeah, why not, after the his precedent failures why not another Berlusconi government? C'mon! Sadly in the next years italians have not a choice and they will pay the cost of a political class corrupted to the core and unable to solve even the simple problems.

Emanuele, London, Uk

Italy is a wonderful country, rich in art and the nature is simply amazing. Italy has just a problem: politicians! They are completely unable to govern. Corruption is spreading all over the country and Mastella - the minister of justice - is under investigation for 7 (seven!) different crimes; Berlusconi, the opposition leader, is under investigation: corruption. That's the situation in Italy... what to do?

Laura, Bologna, Italy

God bless Italy

Roberto Silvestri, Torino, Italia

I was thinking about moving to England to study and maybe live. I have heard wonderful things about your country. I live in England right now and I don't like it so much here. Before I came here I lived in America. Is it a nice place to live in Italy???

stefan, stoke, uk

I think it is time for the European democracies, with the British included, to awake up and say no to the imperialistic attitude of the US in terms of military bases and so so-called 'war on terror'. I am getting really tired of that fallacy. We should must stand and say enough is enough. No more American 'directorship'. Lets stop the expansion of the American military bases, which are used as a tool to invade other countries to spread 'democracy'. If there was an American flag in every nation I believe the world would be so boring. The Italian opposition, regardless its own political goals in mind, did the right thing...America? No thank you... go away... go back home and leave the rest of the world alone...!!!

Daniel, Oxford, UK

Italy HAS a choice: the return of Berlusconi and the centre-right coalition.
Italian left parties have just demonstrated that they're not united AT ALL: they've sabotaged themselves!
Firstly, this ruling left coalition is made up by parties that have ideas that are TOO different from each other and that are UNABLE to get along, to reach agreement.
Secondly, the moderate left wing is TOO permissive towards the extremist wing.
Moreover, this is not the first time that a left premiership has been sabotaged by its own allied parties (it happened many times during the previous left government, in the second half of the 90's).
The left coalition, once again, has demonstrated its unreliability.
They ough to hold new elections, ...but they won't do it... because they perfectly know that they would lose.. and that the right coalition would win.

Margherita, Bergamo, Italy

So Romano Prodi has been brought down by the abstention of one 88-year-old Christian Democrat, Giulio Andreotti, and the absence through illness of an even older one, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, and the future of Italy now lies in the hands of the relatively youthful Communist President, an 81-year-old stripling. Is this Cicciolina's opportunity?

Fred O'Hanlon, Suzhou, China

Prodi's govenment has been a great invention.
Our Prime Minister thought he could blend different colours in his pot to obtain from those, just one.
It didn't work because to deal with human beings is different than with chemical elements in a laboratory.

Benito, Rosarno, Italy

Berlusconi, Prodi ? None of them two.
Political parties in Italy? Laughable stock.
Beleive me at a certain point of my life I was involved.
Until the Italians do not realize that the only electoral system working is the English, Italy will always be in a mess. Do away with those parties with 2 or 3,4,5 % that the are the ruin of the Italians.

Verdino, Stanmore, UK

There are so many people here in Italy who do not even know the meaning of the word " freedom". Mr Prodi is our last chance against the neo-fascist Berlusconi and Fini. I hope that European people will understand our horrible situation. I do believe that Mr Prodi will lead us again to international raspectability.

Alessandro, Parma,

No surprise,
sooner or later it had to happen .... the actual goverment is too heterogenous in the DNA's OF ITS PARTYS, and conflict is inevitable.

franco, Castagneto Carducci, italy

This is a fight without hope. In Italy there are not just two political parts, there is not the right and the left, and up to yesterday there were a few of little extreme left parties that tried to take in hostage the government. It was clear from the beginning that this government would have concluded its "adventure" in this way. Someone says that the fault is of the electoral law and so on (Don't forget that the actual government got just 24.000 votes more then the counterpart at the Camera, and 200.000 less than the counterpart at the Senate), but I say that this coalition is composed by an awesome mixture of unconceivable views, and that's why joining all the anti-Berlusconian forces was the only way to win elections. This is conceptually wrong and it is a great danger for the stability of my country (yesterday we had the proof of it). This coalition doesn't represent people who elected it, and that's why I hope that there will be new elections.

Giovanni, Bari, Italy

The present political situation in Italy points out no alternative to another Prodi's govenment. The electoral system adopted in the last election (chosen by Berlusconi and his gang) risks to give another scanty majority and consequently the same problems that there are now. What is necessary right now is more sense of responsability by the parties which support Prodi and his government in order to avoid instability. It is hard to rule in these conditions, nonetheless it is necessary.

Alessandro, Rome, Italy

Italian politicians are very clever. They love using passion inflaming words like Communist and Fascist. All these do is keep Italians looking back and divided. Divided they cannot create a Parliament strong enough to tackle the very real problems Italy faces (unemployment esp no jobs for the young, corruption, neapotism, failing educational standards, too many State employees, to name a few!). If Italians could stand together for half an hour and actually look to the future of their country (there isn't one), they might be scared enough to get off their behinds and try to change the political and judicial (another disgrace) systems. But it'll never happen... they are too busy slagging each other off while the only people who gain to anyone other than the politicians/trade unionists etc who will never give up power voluntarily. Italy is rotten to its core and that is reflected in its politics. Great wine though!

Lisa, Milan,

Come on people! Berlusconi again? Do you really think Italy was a better country where to leave after 5 years of laws ad personam and
Silivio becoming one of the richest man in the world? But, of course, you don not like the challenge, just some one - self mede he claim, but where did your money came from? I ask- to follow, a charismatic boss, the "imprenditore-operaio".
I heard your voices: please, please! We need someone to follow, we cannot think with our own mind!
Berlusconi fits well with Italy and his voters, because Italy is defenitly a nation of SERVANTS!

Marco, Bristol, uk

The truth is, as Pier Ferdinando Casini said, that in Italy dosen't exist a real majority. Both the Center-Left coalition and the Center-Right one, at the moment, cant' lead the country and the reason is simple: the Italians are confused and don't recognize anymore the differencies between the two "parties". They haven't the possibility to chose a real alternative. So they vote without awareness and the result is a divided country. I agree with Mr Casini who has proposed to create an "Agreement Government", with the moderates and liberals of both coalitions, that wants and works for the commonweal of Italy

Federico, Brescia, Italy

I'm a Prodi supporter. The hard-left wing ought to have a more realistic view of the reality. Politics is the art of possibility, not the triumph of idealistic thoughts!

Daniele Capra, S.Lucia di Piave, TV, Italy

Plese ! Give me a chance to became British!!!

paride, Reggio Emilia, Italy

the left wing just shows their incapability to govern.they are just a patchwork of small left wing parties always fighting between them and without any serious political programme.i just hope, for the italian future,the return of berlusconi.forza italia!

betty, treviso, italy

The problem is that Romano Prodi's coalition was just an electoral coalition and not a coalition to govern the country. The real common point of the allies seems to be a futile rage against Berlusconi; in fact most of what this government has done in the last months has been just destroy and go against what the previous government had done, good or wrong was not the point. But Italians voted them, so they have to keep them and be happy.. More taxes, less freedom...

simona, pisa,

My Hope, but quite sure the Hope of a great part of the country is that Mr Berlusconi comes back. If there will be election tomorrow Berlusconi will have aproximately the 60 % of votes and hard left people know that , because Mr Prodi's Rule has made so much damage to italy in so little time...

Nicola, Vicenza, Italy

The unconstructed left wants a right-wing government because it fits into the dialectic. They will always hate governing because this is not, as they see it, yet their true role. So they have to encourage right-wing government. Moderate liberal capitalism is what they hate the most because it is their enemy, whereas right-wing capitalism is not.
They take home 8000 pounds a month by the way, and after five years' service are eligible for their pension. Oh, and they have an allowance for a secretary, generally their wives or sons.

keeling, Modena, Italy

What happened yesterday is a proof that this coalition still lacks a clear-cut identity, as Ezio Mauro from La Rebubblica writes today in his editorial.Having voted and supported this government (and I still do) I demand the extreme left to either clarify its position or leave for good. We are sick of these fools trying to stand out in the crowd no matter what's at stake! Prodi was right in resigning and saying he's not coming back unless his allies prove they are ready for a real commitment in being part of this coalition!Those two extreme-leftwingers should really decide where their loyalty stands, even their party agreed to support the motion, but hey, they had to distinguish themselves!!I'm upset and disappointed.Their irresponsible behaviour is not helping the workers they predend to represent, it's just giving another chance to Mr.Berlusconi, whose government they publicly despised in more then one occasion! It is unbelievable and terribly sad.Good luck Napolitano

Caterina, Venice, Italy

the problem in Italy is that nobody has the courage to manage the situation....... it's a shame.

mario, treviso, italy

Caprices of Communists! Sometimes you need to comprimise on your ideologies for a greater good and a better future for your country! This is a globalised world, we dont live in 50s anymore. Italy has no power in international politics because of its ever-embarrasing domestic politics.

C. Karatas, Istanbul, Turkey

i've voted Prodi in april 2006 but this is not the right way to drive italy in a better place: we need stability and a new electoral law. probably it could be better if Prodi and his coalition go home

Gianluca de Trizio, Molfetta (BA), Italy

I even voted for him...what I fool I have been...luckily I live in UK now!

Antobbo, Taranto, Italy

Romano Prodi's attempt to lead a coalition without the support of a political party of his own was at best foolish and arrogant, and at worst incredibly harmful for Italy. It is only surprising that he lasted so long. Before any progress can be made, Italy needs to change its political system and free itself from the influence of the extremist political parties which, under the current system, have the power to bring down the government whenever they choose.

Susannah, Bologna, Italy

Right wing?Fascist wing!

Nicola, Milano, Italy

I can't believe that the left wing never wants to govern...turning back to a Berlusconi gevernment would really make me lose the hope for a better furure for my country.
Give up your ideologies for the health of the country!!!

Paolo, Stevenage, UK

I even voted for him...what a fool...luckily Ilive in London now!!

Antobbo, Taranto, Italy

Prodi sucks.....................we'll be all better off with a new right wing governament

Andrea Colcelli, Città di Castello, ITALY

Italy HAS a choice: the return of Berlusconi and the centre-right coalition.
Italian left parties have just demonstrated that they're not united AT ALL: they've sabotaged themselves!
Firstly, this ruling left coalition is made up by parties that have ideas that are TOO different from one other and that are UNABLE to get along, to reach agreement.
Secondly, the moderate left wing is TOO permissive towards the extremist wing.
Moreover, this is not the first time that a left premiership has been sabotaged by its own allied parties (it happened many times during the previous left government, in the second half of the 90's).
The left coalition, once again, has demonstrated its unreliability.
They ough to hold new elections, ...but they won't do it... because they perfectly know that they would lose.. and that the right coalition would win.

Margherita, Bergamo, Italy

This Government barely won elections not to govern the country, rather to defeat Berlusconi. A deus ex machina that failed miserably.

Letizia, Rome, Italy

Well unfortunately Italy has no choice, a come back of Berlusconi would be tragical...

mario, turin, italy

It was a matter of time the crisis in Italy. The majority of the coalition parties are united not because they share common ideals, but simply because all of them hate Mr Berlusconi pro Usa views or his rise to become the richest man in the country.
Italy will never have stability if they dont stop the small extremists parties to elect Mps even with a incredible 2% of votes.

gigi, agrigento, italy

Prepare the scene for a dramatic turn of events... I don't exclude a support from Casini's UDC to the Prodi coalition if the Prime Minister should decide to abandon left estreme's parties.

Savinelli Antonio, Caserta, Italy