But then it got worse. Then it was announced that on Wednesday, Berlusconi would be given a state funeral in the presence of Mattarella and that there was to be a day of national mourning with flags at half-mast.
It is as if, on the death of Boris Johnson – a man, noted, like Berlusconi, for his contempt for the institutions of the state – the authorities decided to give him a funeral at Westminster Abbey in the presence of King Charles. In that case, I would hope there would be some sort of public uprising.
TV news broadcasts yesterday evening were wholly devoted to Berlusconi. Some major catastrophe might have occurred, but the viewer would not have been informed about it. In fact, a catastrophe did occur: there was the latest in an endless series of accidents at work when two men died of asphyxiation at a winery after one of them had fallen into a storage container and the other tried to save him – but nothing of this tragedy or heroism was mentioned.
Many loved Berlusconi, but millions voted against him and here is the point. That is, my indignation derives from the fact that the Italian constitution stipulates that the most important duty of the president is to represent national unity, so the idea that he should lend his authority to an event marking the passing of such a divisive figure strikes me as wholly inappropriate.
It is the taxpayer who foots the bill for state funerals.
The man was a member of the subversive P2 masonic lodge for goodness sake! – not to mention one who was found guilty of tax fraud; who went into politics to save his monopoly on private television broadcasting; who became famous for abusing his position as prime minister to pass legislation designed to serve his interests as a private citizen.
Berlusconi’s greatest ability was in defending his own interests. It was Berlusconi’s successful personalisation of political campaigning that provides the essential explanation for the failure of the parties of the centre left, when in office from 1996 and again from 2006, to secure legislation that would deal effectively with the entrepreneur’s conflict of interests; for they were very well aware that efforts in that direction would inevitably be perceived by the public as a case of the use of public power to attack Berlusconi personally; to be perceived, therefore, as unreasonable, and unlikely, therefore, to bring them any significant electoral dividends.
I remember the controversy aroused by the funeral for Margaret Thatcher and I hope — I imagine — that there will be numerous public expressions of dissent in this case too.
– Jim Newell is the deputy leader of the Rejoin EU Party and adjunct professor of politics at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy