![]() ![]() They included the lurid “Rubygate” scandal in which he was charged with having sex with an under-age prostitute, and a wave of salacious revelations from police wiretaps about alleged orgies at his luxurious Milan villa. ![]() He had been prime minister for longer than any postwar leader, painting himself as the only choice for the dominant conservative voting bloc and a bastion against communism.īolstered by unrivalled communication skills and a dominance of Italian media, Berlusconi had for years seemed immune to a series of controversies that would have destroyed a politician in most other parts of the world. His demise was a far cry from 2008 when a landslide victory gave the media tycoon his third and strongest electoral mandate. ![]() ![]() The scandal-plagued premier, one of Italy’s richest men, was forced out by weeks of turmoil on financial markets that pushed Italy’s borrowing costs to levels that obliged Ireland, Portugal and Greece to seek bailouts of a kind which the euro zone could not afford for its third largest economy.Ī remarkable week, that started with Berlusconi adamantly refusing to resign, ended a remarkable political career that began when he burst on to the scene in 1994 promising a fresh new approach after a corruption scandal that swept away Italy’s postwar political order. In scenes reminiscent of the departure of his mentor, Socialist Prime Minister Bettino Craxi in 1993, the 75-year-old media magnate was harried by angry crowds hurling insults and coins at his limousine as handed his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano.īerlusconi slipped out of the Quirinale presidential palace by a side entrance as thousands of demonstrators chanted “Clown! Clown!” and spontaneous street parties erupted. A man who had rejoiced in his ability to talk directly to ordinary Italians looked pale and isolated as he was forced to resign on Saturday after his broken promises and crumbling power brought Italy to the brink of financial disaster. ![]()
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