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Attack on PM Berlusconi prompts Italy soul searching
Images of his bloodied and bruised face were show on television networks around the world and splashed on the front pages of all Italian newspapers but the headlines and comments went well beyond the injuries, which were not life threatening.
“A Time of Hate,” was the headline used by La Nazione newspaper of Florence. The word “hate” was used in many headlines and by many commentators as Italy searched its soul over what happened to its controversial and divisive premier.
“We have come to this. A climate of hate against Berlusconi has produced devastating effects,” the conservative Rome newspaper Il Tempo said on its front page.
Even left-leaning commentators who have led anti-Berlusconi campaigns over his corruption trials and personal problems acknowledged the attack represented a symbol of political tensions that had boiled over dangerously.
”This clearly shows the degradation of the political clash in Italy,” said Ezio Mauro, editor-in-chief of Rome’s La Repubblica, a newspaper which has been sharply critical of the prime minister’s governance.
L’Unita, newspaper of the largest opposition grouping, the Democratic Party, which has often demanded Berlusconi’s resignation, called the attack “madness”.
But PD President Rosy Bindi was quoted as saying that Berlusconi, who has often accused his opponents of being “communists” out to destroy him, was himself responsible for the tense climate and said Berlusconi “should not play the victim.”
Lapse in security
Political sources said Berlusconi’s security procedures were under review since the assailant, Massimo Tartaglia, came close enough to have killed the prime minister if he had used a gun.
The last national political assassination in Italy was in 1978 when Red Brigades guerrillas killed former Prime Minister Aldo Moro in one of the country’s most highly-charged periods.
Commentators said the Berlusconi incident could even raise political tensions further before they eventually simmered down.
“The assailant was crazy but we all know who those morally responsible are,” said Il Giornale, a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family. It said the attack was made possible by a climate where “Berlusconi has been called a dictator, a fascist, a tyrant, an absolute monarch to overthrow at any cost.”Berlusconi allies strongly attacked Antonio Di Pietro, an ex magistrate who now heads a small opposition party, after he said the prime minister was “the instigator” of the attack against him because of his confrontational behavior and insults. Stripped of immunity from prosecution last October, Berlusconi faces several trials, including one on charges of bribery and corruption and another on charges of tax fraud.
An opinion poll published on Saturday indicated his popularity had fallen four percentage points to just over 50 percent as Italians fretted that his legal entanglements could distract him from government duties.
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