ITALY: As Silvio Berlusconi celebrates his 75th birthday, some Italians have little nice to say about the Italian leader

Record ID: 471221

  • Title: ITALY: As Silvio Berlusconi celebrates his 75th birthday, some Italians have little nice to say about the Italian leader
  • Date: 30th September 2011
  • Summary: PEOPLE WALKING IN CENTRAL ROME SQUARE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ROME RESIDENT PIERA DI GIOCOMO SAYING: "What should I say, as far as I am concerned he's a likable scoundrel, happy birthday." PEOPLE BOARDING BUS (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) ROME RESIDENT STEFANO TRINKA SAYING: "I wish he would give a present to the whole of Italy and resign." TRAFFIC DRIVING ON STREETS (SOUNDBITE)
  • Embargoed: 15th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy, Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAABPIK4I1CDXHIACQUXYJ1IU97
  • Story Text: Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi turned 75 on Thursday (September 29) with many Italians hoping he would not throw one of the parties he is so famed for, but rather get down to business and sort out Italy's ailing economy.
    Berlusconi seems to be looking younger rather than older as the years pass. A deeply tanned, smooth-faced prime minister recently turned up for a youth rally of his supporters where he again reiterated he would like to live forever.
    But support for the Italian prime minister has long been waning in a country recently downgraded by ratings agency Standard & Poor's and many have simply had enough of his scandal-ridden government.
    Thursday's newspapers were more concerned with the choice of new governor for the Bank of Italy, than with the premier's birthday.
    'Bank of Italy chaos' ran one newspaper headline. 'Berlusconi: 'If I insist on Saccomanni, Tremonti will make the government fall' read another, referring to possible candidate Fabrizio Saccomanni.
    On the streets of Rome, Italians had a range of messages for their leader.
    "What should I say, as far as I am concerned he's a likable scoundrel, happy birthday," said Piera di Giocomo, as she hurried off to work.
    Other messages were not so congratulatory.
    "I wish he would give a present to the whole of Italy and resign," said Rome resident Stefano Trinka.
    Berlusconi has pledged to stay in office to the end of his term in 2013 but his centre-right government has faced damning criticism over the past few weeks of its handling of the economic crisis. The prime minister himself has also received more or less open calls for his resignation from pillars of the Italian establishment.
    But he still retains a majority in parliament and many of his supporters treat him as an almost god-like figure who is constantly picked on by left-wing extremists and a corrupt legal system.
    "Happy Birthday and good work, that is if they actually let him get any work done," said stalwart Berlusconi supporter, Mr Molinari.
    But many people are so fed up with Berlusconi they have little nice to say on his birthday.
    "Oh forget about it, I don't even want to talk about it, I hope it's his last," said Rome resident Arnaldo Zani.
    There are probably two people who will not be invited to any birthday celebrations: rumour has it that Berlusconi has fallen out with the country's Treasury Minister Giulio Tremonti and the pair have appeared increasingly at odds as escalating market turmoil has destroyed their old boast of having kept Italy out of the euro zone debt crisis.
    The other person unlikely to attend any parties with the prime minister is Moroccan dancer Karima el-Mahroug, known as Ruby. Berlusconi is at the centre of a scandal involving the girl who says she was paid 7,000 euros ($9,900) after she attended a party at Berlusconi's private villa near Milan when she was 17-years-old.
    Ruby has denied having sex with Berlusconi and said she had told him she was 24 years old.
    While Berlusconi marks his 75th birthday, in an unusual twist, the leader of the opposition PD party Pierluigi Bersani will also be celebrating his 60th birthday on the same day.
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