Silvio Berlusconi want’s to be Italy’s prime minister yet again and he isn’t afraid to offer big promises in order to get back to his former position. The Italian general election in which Berlusconi is trying to get his old job back will take place on February 24th and 25th.
Berlusconi resigned as prime minister of Italy in November of 2011 after his party lost the majority in Parliament. Since then, the colorful politician has been making headlines by romancing women 50 years his junior and praising murderous dictators .
Silvio Berlusoni’s big push back into power appears to be a letter to voters that promises them a rather generous tax rebate. The letter, which the BBC reports started arriving at Italian homes on Wednesday has the former prime minister’s political rivals outraged.
Centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who had a rather comfortable lead in the polls until recently said that if he ever crossed paths in person with Berlusconi after the letter was sent, he would have called him “a cheat.” According to The Guardian, the other man running for prime minister went a little bit farther.
Antonio Ingroia, who is the head of the smaller, far left party said that Berlusconi had probably committed a crime and possibly two. Ingroia has built his reputation in Italy by prosecuting high level mafia members. Ingroia said that he would most likely report Berlusconi for electoral fraud and vote buying.
This is hardly the first time that one of Italy’s richest men has used his fortune to attempt to get a leg up. During the 2001 election, he sent every household in Italy a book titled Una storia italiana (An Italian Story). This book told a story about his life and was well peppered with photos of him in various events and stages of life.
Polling for prime minister was cut off on February 5 by Italian law, but the last polls saw Berlusconi clawing to within five points of Bersani.
Will Silvio Berlusconi’s rebate letter work in winning him back the title of Italian prime minister?
