Italy Elections- 25% Undecided, Much Apathy with
Elections this Weekend- Berlusconi 5 pts behind
The
ANNOTICO Report
Mr
Berlusconi effectively owns three private TV stations in
Berlusconi, suprisingly accepted an invitation from Rai Tre
TV journalist Lucia Annunziata to appear on her show,
during which when she was unaccustomedly confrontational, and the interview
became heated.
Among the Newspapers, Il Giornale,
which is owned by Mr Berlusconi's brother Paolo, favoured the incumbent. The centre-left La Repubblica, equally unsurprisingly favored Prodi
The centrist La Stampa,
Three Articles Below:
1. BERLUSCONI
"NEEDS 5 MORE YEARS"
2. INSULTS FLY IN ITALY PRIME MINISTER DEBATE- Drunk vs Idiot ??
3. ITALIAN PRESS
BERLUSCONI
"NEEDS 5 MORE YEARS"
BBC
News,
By David
Willey
Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi has said he needs another five years to bring
Mr Berlusconi was addressing a crowd
of about 2,000 supporters of his Forza Italia party
in
It was his last election
rally in the Italian capital before this weekend's general elections.
He appealed to student and
pensioner voters, and stressed his party's commitment to upholding family
values.
Speaking to the converted, and with no time restraints for his final public
address in
He promised at his first
cabinet meeting to cancel a much-criticized local property tax which all house
owners have to pay.
Watchdog
Mr Berlusconi, confidently grasping
his lectern, then went on to make promises to students, offering them tax
breaks if they wanted to become enterprising businessmen like himself.
He appealed to pensioners
who would, he said, enjoy free train and bus travel, free entrance to cinemas
and theatres and also get a free license to watch television if he is returned
to office at the weekend.
The Italian prime minister
then took the moral high ground and called upon this predominantly Catholic
country to vote for him, not his leftist opponents as he, unlike them, he said,
would uphold family values.
The
Earlier Mr Berlusconi had been rapped on the knuckles by the
watchdog authority which is attempting to limit Mr
Berlusconi's air time on the commercial television channels which he owns.
He withdrew from a planned
television appearance later on Wednesday.
INSULTS
FLY IN ITALY PRIME MINISTER DEBATE- Drunk vs Idiot ??
BBC News,
By
Christian Fraser
The debate was dominated
by the economy as Mr Berlusconi sought to claw back
ground he has lost.
More than 15m people
watched the first debate two weeks ago, which centre-left Mr
Prodi was deemed to have won.
This debate was a far more
combative exchange, which eventually spilled over into open confrontation.
The election campaign has
been acrimonious throughout.
At every turn there have
been insults, and at times it has been a pretty ugly spectacle.
Monday's debate began with
a question over whether the campaign could have been held in a better spirit.
"You're right, we
should try to be more friendly," said Mr Prodi.
'Useful idiot'
But within 20 minutes the
debate had descended into open confrontation.
Mr Prodi
said: "The prime minister clings to data in the way a drunkard clings to
lamp-posts - not for illumination, but to keep him standing up."
Mr Berlusconi replied: "I will
not accept that. Have a little respect for the prime minister.
"Let me return Prodi's remark about the drunk by saying that Prodi is like a useful idiot - he lends his cheery parish
priest face to the left, which is 70% made up of former communists."
No-one knows how much
impact these live debates have on the final vote, but for Silvio
Berlusconi, this was maybe a final chance.
Before polling was
completed he was judged to be five points behind.
The focus over the next
few days will be convincing 25% of the electorate that is still undecided - it
is that section of the vote that will decide the result.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4874400.stm
ITALIAN
PRESS
BBC News,
Italian newspapers are
divided on who won Monday's televised debate between Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his rival Romano Prodi.
Il Giornale, which is owned by Mr Berlusconi's brother Paolo, delivers no surprises in
coming out in favour of the incumbent.
It contrasts "a Prodi who pretended to be as calm as camomile
but was in fact a bag of nerves" with "a Berlusconi who was finally
himself".
"Let's say it openly:
Berlusconi won," it declares.
"Last time he lost
concentration at the end," it acknowledges, "but yesterday he was a
lion of a communicator".
'After the whistle'
The centre-left La Repubblica, equally unsurprisingly, disagrees.
"Romano Prodi appears to have won."
Mr Prodi
turned in "a good performance" and "was serene and
determined", it believes, whereas Mr Berlusconi
was "irascible and exasperated".
It concedes that Mr Berlusconi's promise to eliminate property taxes
"did have an impact".
"But it probably came
after the final whistle had been blown," it says.
The centrist La Stampa takes a similar view of the property tax
announcement, commenting that the election result "now seems to depend on
the extent to which Italians are still willing to believe Silvio
Berlusconi's promises".
It goes on to praise the
performance of Mr Prodi,
who "conducted the debate as expected - calmly, with a certain detachment,
and with great care not to be drawn into controversy".
Honours even?
Meanwhile,
Mr Prodi "seemed to have a firm grip on the
ball" and "extricated himself from the fray of the tax debate",
it says, but he faced "a more lucid Berlusconi who was less inhibited by
the constraints of the allotted time".
But according to
While this second
televised debate "seemed livelier than the previous one", it says,
"it doesn't appear to have managed to excite many
of those who follow politics from afar and without interest".
"It's unlikely to
have fired up many people to go out and vote," it concludes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4875898.stm
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