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Italy’s Election Reform Kerfuffles

Heading in a better direction?

Italy’s electoral law reform process is hotting up. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is going all out to pass the election law he thinks Italy needs and most of Italy’s major opposition parties as well as a contingent of his very own Partito Democratico party are up in arms over what he is trying to achieve. UPDATE: […]

Italy: Bickering as Usual but Some Signs of Recovery

As tends to be the case within the wonderfully warped world of Italian politics, everyone is arguing with one another. On what passes for the Italy’s political left, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is in the midst of a spat with former leader Pier Luigi Bersani who’s not at all happy with Mr Renzi’s bulldozer approach to […]

Italy’s Supposedly Authoritarian Direction

Italy Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is facing accusations of authoritarianism over his aggressive approach to forcing reforms through the nation’s parliament. Mr Renzi has even been dubbed the new Mussolini. Is this fair? No, in the opinion of this Italy watcher, it is not really fair to label Italy’s Matteo Renzi as the nation’s 21st […]

Draghi and Renzi driving Europe? A New Perspective.

In the last year the Euro has collapsed from 1.40 to 1.12 against the US dollar. That’s a 20% decline in how many dollars your Euro will buy. Last week the Swiss central bank suddenly stopped buying Euros and let the cap on the Swiss Franc go. Overnight the value of the Euro dropped from […]

Italy’s President Napolitano Resigns

Heading in a better direction?

Today, and as expected, Giorgio Napolitano is no longer the president of Italy. This, of course, means Italy needs another president, though for now, nobody has any idea who the next president of Italy will be. It is likely that there’s a secret short list of candidates and Mr Napolitano may not have resigned until […]

Peculiar Primaries in Italy – Christian Democrats 2.0?

The oft peculiar world of what passes for politics in Italy became a mite more perverse at the weekend when a centre-left candidate favoured by Italy’s right won primaries. It’s not the first time Italy’s right has supported Italy’s supposed left, either. The informal primaries were held to select a centre-left candidate for the position of regional president of […]

The Sneaky Save Silvio Berlusconi Clause

In legislation hastily passed on Christmas Eve in Italy, a person, or persons unknown, slipped in a clause which could permit tax fraud convict and former Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi’s return to the center stage of politics in Italy. A Christmas present? Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano noticed the suspiciously friendly clause which had been […]

Convict Berlusconi Goes Fishing

Today, convict Silvio Berlusconi had lunch with Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Guess what was most likely on the menu? No, not fish, although it could have been, but Berlusconi’s return to politics. The law which is keeping Mr Berlusconi out of politics has recently been challenged, successfully, by the Mayor of Naples who temporarily […]

Italy’s Matteo Renzi – the New Face of the Old Guard?

Last week the news in Italy broke that Tiziano, the father of Italy’s current prime minister Matteo Renzi, was under investigation for fraudulent bankruptcy. The story led to a few ‘like father, like son’ jibes and dented Mr Renzi junior’s reputation a wee bit. The case is, though, indicating that far from being the new face […]