Rome – Italy’s highest court upheld on Wednesday the narrow victory of Romano Prodi in last week’s elections, apparently ending Silvio Berlusconi’s tenure as prime minister after five years – except that the mercurial Berlusconi still would not concede defeat.
Instead, there were strong signs that he was possibly opening a new campaign: to be named the nation’s president, or at least have a strong say in the choice.
As of late Wednesday, hours after the Court of Cassazione released its final count of last week’s bitterly contested vote, Berlusconi had made no public comment. But several allies suggested that the court’s decision was not adequate, and the nation’s political tensions tightened by a few notches.
“We acknowledge the decision,” Sandro Bondi, national coordinator for Berlusconi’s Forza Italia Party, said in a statement. But, Bondi said, “the reservations we advanced continue to stand.”
Earlier in the day, Bondi floated a proposal that some political experts believe is the real force behind Berlusconi’s reluctance to acknowledge the results. He suggested that Berlusconi be made the president of Italy – a position appointed by Parliament that would keep him in politics, give him great prestige and protect him from any attack by a new government on his vast holdings in media, publishing and sports.
Berlusconi’s stance seemed in character for a risk taker who built Italy’s largest fortune and who has often been accused of ignoring the rules along the way. But it is unclear whether his continuing resistance to judicially certified election results will be seen as an admirable fighting spirit or a dangerous toying with Italian democracy.