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| Berlusconi: considering a comeback ... or maybe not |
Over 50% of those surveyed said the former prime minister had had a negative impact on Italy, while fewer than 10% said the same about each of the five other Italian politicians in the poll.
“No one has ever done worse than Berlusconi,” the Demos & Pi research institute said in the write-up of their poll.
The survey casts a shadow across recent rumours that Berlusconi is considering a comeback with a candidacy for 2013 elections, after he told the German daily Bild yesterday that he would “never leave his party in the lurch” (see accompanying report).
The media magnate was forced out of government as the Italian economy crashed on the markets last year and amid a number of scandals, including a trial for having sex with a 17-year-old underage prostitute.
The 1,300 people surveyed between June 5 and 8 were given six Italian politicians to rate regarding their impact on the country.
Fifty-four per cent said Berlusconi had had a negative effect, a far cry from the 9% who said the same about current government head Mario Monti.
Berlusconi was the only one of the six to score in the double digits.
Only 13% said Berlusconi had had a positive impact.
And 55% of those surveyed felt the November 2011 fall of the Berlusconi reign had a positive impact on Italy, while 64% said his entry into politics had a negative impact.
Since handing over to a coalition government headed by Mario Monti to get Italy out of its financial mess, Berlusconi has said several times that he wanted Angelino Alfano, 41, his former justice minister, to succeed him.
But press reports say he is beavering away behind the scenes to reshape the party, which suffered a massive setback in May local elections.
Berlusconi has not officially confirmed the rumours.
Opinion polls have shown the PDL could win up to 28% with Berlusconi as its head in the 2013 elections, but only 10% with Alfano at the helm.
However a new poll published on Friday showed Monti’s popularity had risen to 49% and that a return by Berlusconi to the political fray would make little difference to his party.
Though Monti has pledged to step down at the next elections, Berlusconi’s critics say that it would be disastrous for Italy if he became prime minister again, destroying the country’s credibility with lenders and the markets.
Berlusconi plans party name change and hints at comeback
Silvio Berlusconi will rename his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party with its original title “Forza Italia” (Go Italy), the former Italian premier told Germany’s Bild daily, adding to signs that he is planning a return to frontline politics.
However, Berlusconi did not confirm that he would stand as candidate for premier in elections next year.
“I am often and insistently asked to do this. I can only say this much, I will never let my People of Freedom party down,” he said in an interview published yesterday. “Incidentally, we are soon going back to the old party name, Forza Italia.”
Forza Italia, the political party Berlusconi created when he became prime minister for the first time in 1994, was merged with other conservative groups to become the PDL in 2008 but he has often talked of reverting to the original name.
Berlusconi, who still faces trial over accusations he paid for sex with a teenager, has kept a relatively low profile since he was forced from office last year in the middle of a financial crisis that threatened to force Italy to default on its 1.9tn euro public debt.
Senior officials from the PDL have said that Berlusconi will be the centre-right candidate in the 2013 elections and the 75 year-old media tycoon has given clear hints that he intends to get back into politics.
Opinion polls suggest the PDL and its allies would lose to a centre-left bloc but supporters are hoping Berlusconi’s return would help unify the centre-right and win back supporters who deserted the party in droves in local elections in May.
Berlusconi, who has frequently criticised the austerity policies followed by Prime Minister Mario Monti said he had a good relationship with Germany but said he was against “exaggeratedly strict budget rigour” because it hampered progress.
“We want a more European Germany and not a more German Europe,” he said. “At the moment, you can feel a certain German position of predominance in Europe and exactly for that reason, we would like to see European policies from Berlin that are far-sighted, open and in solidarity.”
Berlusconi, who has spoken openly about the prospect of Italy leaving the euro, said he did not believe that the single currency would be allowed to fail.
“With the euro, Germany’s economic situation has improved and Italy’s has got worse,” he said. “However a return to national currencies seems improbable to me. It would mean the failure of the historic project of a united Europe and no-one wants that.”