Silvio Berlusconi's Sex Partners

European politics are impotent, moribund and in need of life support

Fired up perhaps by his engagement to a woman 49 years younger than himself, the 76-year-old Silvio Berlusconi has announced his return to politics. He will head the centre-right Popolo della Libertà (PDL) in spring elections. His successor – the unelected Mario Monti – is, he says, pushing the country into recession with his austerity programme, and the PDL will no longer support him.
In response, Monti immediately announced his resignation. European leaders threw up their arms in horror.

The markets got nervous and interest rates on Italian government bonds shot up. Important elements of

 Berlusconi's party rebelled and threatened a split; if Monti stands as a candidate for a centrist coalition, they will join him, they say. Meanwhile, the Partito Democratico (PD), the

 leftwing opposition, is gloating. With opinion polls giving them a good lead, the election seems in the bag.

What does Berlusconi do? He says that if Monti stands for election, he will withdraw his own

candidacy and support him. Bizarre? He then says that, if he is elected himself, his first action

will be to abolish a hated property tax that Monti slapped on first-home ownership. At once,

the threat of a split in the PDL fades. If Monti enters the fray, the rebels will be able to

support him from within the PDL. If he doesn't, then they have no leader to leave the party for.

Read the full story here.

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