It will be because he is no longer at Palazzo Chigi, it will be because of the unfavorable polls, but Silvio Berlusconi seems concerned about neutralizing the effects of future elections as much as possible. Not just the administrative ones that will be held in May. But also and above all of those policies of 2013. And so - if for the administrative ones he has already made it known that he has no intention of putting his face or money into it, preferring, where possible, to encourage additional civic lists for now - for the policies he has yesterday advanced from Brussels, where he is for a meeting of the EPP, the hypothesis of aiming for a grand coalition with everyone involved, perhaps to extend the life of the Monti government beyond the 2013 limit. Bersani immediately said that he doesn't agree because the Democratic Party has a different idea of democracy. And for the League, Padania has accused Berlusconi of resurrecting a sort of Fascist plank from 1924.
It is more than reasonable that the competitor Pd and the former ally Lega are clearly against it. A party like the Democratic Party cannot tell its voters: vote for us in the name of an upcoming alliance with Berlusconi, even if it is to support Monti. And even the League can only take the opportunity of the Knight's proposal to shout at the crowd and accuse him of getting on with his former enemy.
Yet Berlusconi's new strategy has some basis. The PDL is increasingly in trouble. First he tried the line of pulling the plug as soon as possible to the government of the technicians. Then, faced with the favor with which public opinion welcomed Monti's arrival, the countermand arrived. Monti, is Cavaliere's thesis, I discovered it, I made him European commissioner, I would have liked to have him in Tremonti's place, and today his government is doing nothing but carrying out the things that I would have liked to do, but which they didn't let me do. A new position, which his own party, increasingly divided, struggles to metabolize.
Yep, the party. But precisely this is Berlusconi's main gripe. He had bet on Angiolino Alfano, even proposing him as candidate for prime minister, but now of his protégé he says: “He's good but he lacks something. And also a story. So it's better to try to take the wheel of who is going fast right now: Monti. Perhaps by proposing the grand coalition that Casini likes so much with which the Cavaliere would like (even at the cost of having to go back to terms with Fini) to rediscover an understanding. Difficult task why centrists have every interest in not throwing lifelines at a PDL in crisis. And then there are the local elections soon. In Genoa and Palermo, the PDL has so far not even managed to find candidates. This step is very difficult. To the point that Berlusconi has already made it known that he does not want to put his face or money into it. Also because he doesn't have the distinct feeling that the PDL is no longer electorally successful. So? Waiting to create a new party with a new name (“Tutti per l'Italia” is a fairly popular acronym) where it is possible the centrist candidates will be supported, perhaps with local lists.
But what is and could be the impact of this new strategy on the Monti government? “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes”, said the Romans. And Monti seems to remember it. So much so that the prime minister, who can only prefer parliamentary support from the PDL over initial hesitations and outright hostility, is very careful not to change the nature of his government and his mandate. To the point of mocking him when he is offered a horizon that goes beyond the next elections, and seizing the opportunity of returning to Bocconi to say he is ready to complete, after the interruption due to his current institutional role, the four-year term of president of the prestigious University.
