Berlusconi ‘first above equals’

MILAN - Become head of the country, and you are off the hook.

This sentiment isn’t in the United States Constitution, but executive power in Italy, as of last Wednesday, is a different story.

A bill was recently passed giving the prime minister, president and the presidents of the two houses of parliament immunity to prosecution during their time in office.

It was dubbed the Alfano Law after Prime Minister Berlusconi’s Minister of Justice, Angelino Alfano.

Since the announcement, there has been a whirlwind of questions about Italy’s political and economic future.

On Oct. 7, Italy’s highest court ruled that the law giving the four highest members of the government immunity from prosecution violated the constitution.

The law was approved only weeks before Berlusconi won the election for a third term, coincidentally after being caught up in a summer sex scandal.

The Italian constitution guarantees equality before the law, and many feel that with the Alfano Law still in place, there can be no equality among citizens and leaders.

The law was found unconstitutional because it did not give all Italian citizens the same rights under the constitution.

Berlusconi’s lawyer tried to defend the bill, saying that as the prime minister he should be considered “first above equals.”

“We are all equal before the law, including the powerful,” the opposition argued.

This decision could re-hatch outstanding corruption cases from before Berlusconi’s election.

Days after the decision was made final, Berlusconi vowed not to step down from his position.

“I am the best prime minister ever,” he said at an Italian news conference Friday.

After calling himself the “politician most persecuted by prosecutors in the entire history of the world,” Berlusconi then complemented his statement by adding he had spent 200 million euros on judges, then corrected himself, saying lawyers.

There are three cases pending against him concerning his business dealings.

The fact of the matter is that Berlusconi was democratically elected during a time when he was still involved in many scandals. Even with the scandals surrounding his election, he still managed to win the majority vote and therefore was re-elected as prime minister of Italy.

“His dominance of the media is disturbing and completely at odds with what it means to be a liberal democracy,” said Claremont College junior Nico Brancolini, who is studying abroad in Milan for the semester. “In the United States, no politician would get away with what Berlusconi has gotten away with.”

In a democratic country with highly volatile opposition parties, the stability and growth of the democratic republic in Italy now rests on the next election and the future of Berlusconi and his party.