Tag Archives: Beppe Grillo

News, Politics, Government

Italian protest party: people fed up with politics

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A day after Italy‘s president was re-elected to an unprecedented second term, the leader of an anti-establishment movement says citizens’ patience with traditional parties is wearing thin.

Beppe Grillo, a comic who heads the Five Star Movement, has dismissed President Giorgio Napolitano‘s re-election as a bid by doomed parties to hang onto power.

Grillo, whose party is the No. 3 bloc in Parliament, predicted in Rome on Sunday that traditional parties would “last a year.”

The mainstream blocs are still bickering over how to form the next government two months after inconclusive national elections. Napolitano was re-elected Saturday after Parliament’s mainstream parties couldn’t agree on a new personality. Napolitano could tap someone to try to form a governing coalition this week.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/WoOLqEbAu1U/

News, Politics, Government

Italian lawmakers to vote for a new president

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Italian lawmakers are gathering to vote on a new president whose first job will be to seek the formation of a new government after inconclusive elections.

Political parties sparred over suitable candidates for the post being vacated by Giorgio Napolitano ahead of the Thursday vote, reflecting divisions that they have been unable to overcome in the more than 50 days since the Feb. 24-25 elections. Napolitano’s term expires next month.

Though largely ceremonial, the job of president can be critical in holding parties to account during moments of strife, like that now facing Italy.

The movement founded by comedian-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo has chosen as its candidate a constitutional expert. The main parties — minus a splinter group in the center-left — were backing a former Senate president.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/kh6ytQaGiAA/

News, Politics, Government

Italy comic seeks presidential nominees via Web

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Comedian-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo is asking supporters to use the Internet to help his party select its nominee for the Italian presidency.

Grillo’s 5 Star Movement finished third in Italy‘s national elections Feb. 24-25. Its refusal to back any mainstream party is a main factor stalling the formation of a new government.

That task has been put aside so Parliament can decide on a new president to replace Giorgio Napolitano, whose term ends May 15. Though largely ceremonial, the job can be critical in holding parties to account during moments of strife, like that now facing Italy.

Grillo invited registered supporters to decide the 5 Star Movement‘s nominee for the presidency by proposing candidates online Thursday. The top 10 candidates getting support will enter a run-off next week.

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/_kPZg6iWcHU/

News, Politics, Government

Italy's Bersani fails to win over 5 Star Movement

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Italian center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani says he’ll take another 48 hours to seek support for a new government after failing to persuade the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement to back him.

Bersani said Wednesday that Italy needs a government now. But the 5 Star Movement said its lawmakers will not back any established party.

The movement’s leader, Beppe Grillo, described the main political party leaders with an off-color term on Twitter and blamed them for robbing young Italians of their future.

Bersani’s coalition controls the lower house but not the Senate. He has excluded seeking a deal with former premier Silvio Berlusconi‘s center-right forces.

If he fails, the president can tap someone else to try to create a government or he can call for a new election.

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Italy president to announce who will form new govt

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Italy‘s president has summoned center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani as he nears a decision on who will try to form a new government.

President Giorgio Napolitano is expected to announce Friday which political leader will get the first shot at forming a new government following the inconclusive February election that produced no clear winner.

Bersani won control of the lower house but no party won a majority in the Senate.

Bersani has ruled out a coalition with Silvo Berlusconi‘s center-right coalition, which finished second. And the political movement founded by comic Beppe Grillo, which finished third, has ruled out supporting any established political force.

If the political gridlock is not resolved, Italy would have to hold a new election.

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News, Politics, Government

Italian Parliament elects center-left leaders

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Italian lawmakers on Saturday elected center-left leaders for both chambers of Parliament, paving the way for difficult talks to form a new government to get started.

Normally a routine procedure for a new Parliament, filling the positions required four rounds of voting in both the lower house and the Senate, highlighting Italy‘s political gridlock following February elections that gave no party a clear victory.

Laura Boldrini, a former spokeswoman in Italy for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, was chosen to lead the lower house, while anti-mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso was elected Senate leader.

“The country more than ever needs fast and effective answers to the social, economic and political crisis that it is going through,” Grasso said.

Boldrini won 327 votes to secure a majority in the 630-seat lower house. In the Senate, Grasso beat center-right candidate Renato Schifani in a runoff with 137 votes to Schifani’s 117.

No candidate won enough votes in the initial rounds Friday as Parliament convened for the first time since the Feb. 24-25 election. The majority rules were relaxed in the subsequent voting rounds on Saturday.

On Monday, each party and coalition will have to select caucus leaders, the final step before President Giorgio Napolitano can open talks on forming a government, expected next week.

Investors are watching the sessions closely for signs of what to expect from the eurozone’s third largest economy, whose debt hit a new high, topping €2 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in January, according to the Bank of Italy.

Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani‘s party finished first in the election and has a stable majority in the lower house, but not in the Senate. Bersani has ruled out an alliance with former Premier Silvio Berlusconi‘s center-right forces, which finished second.

But Bersani has failed to persuade the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which captured a quarter of the votes, from cooperating on a leadership strategy. The 5-Star Movement, led by comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo, refuses to align with any major party.

The political stalemate has raised the possibility of new elections in the coming months and bodes badly for Italy‘s efforts to pass the tough reforms it needs to snuff out its economic crisis.

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Italy's Parliament convenes, faces stalemate

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Italy‘s newly elected Parliament was heading toward political gridlock as it meets for the first time after inconclusive elections gave no party a clear victory.

Investors will keep a close eye on the inaugural session Friday when both chambers will vote for leaders. Only then can Italy‘s president open talks on forming a government, expected next week.

Even before Parliament opened, the parties were locked in a stalemate.

Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, whose coalition came first in Feb.24-25 elections, said his lawmakers will cast blank ballots after failing to persuade comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo‘s 5 Star Movement, which finished third, to cooperate on a leadership strategy. The anti-establishment movement will only vote for its own candidates — which cannot guarantee a winner.

Voting was expected to continue Saturday.

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News, Politics, Government

O'Malley, the 'cappuccino priest,' a hit in Rome

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The archbishop of Boston, dressed more often in the humble brown robe of his religious order than a cardinal’s regalia, has emerged as an unlikely star amid the drama unfolding in Rome.

Vatican analysts for the leading Italian newspapers have repeatedly listed Cardinal Sean O’Malley as one of the favorite contenders in the conclave starting Tuesday.

As recently as two weeks ago, O’Malley hadn’t appeared on the lists of papabili, or cardinals with papal potential, that church watchers pore over each morning like sports scores, even though only the cardinal-electors know how they will vote. Vatican observers said no American cardinal could win: A superpower pope risked mixing church and U.S. interests. O’Malley is also a Capuchin Franciscan, and few members of religious orders have led the church.

But O’Malley arrived to a country in an anti-establishment mood.

A comedian, Beppe Grillo, had grabbed a quarter of the parliamentary vote, leaving the political leadership of Italy in limbo.

The Vatican central administration, or Curia, had been weathering a string of scandals. Benedict XVI’s own butler had leaked the former pontiff’s private papers, revealing feuding, corruption and cronyism at the highest levels of the bureaucracy. The secretive Vatican bank had recently ousted a president for incompetence and is under pressure for greater financial transparency.

In the cardinal, Italians saw a white knight. The 68-year-old O’Malley has spent his career as a bishop cleaning up dioceses shattered by child sex abuse. From O’Malley’s lengthy track record, one story seems to have captured the most attention: after he arrived in Boston in 2003, then the epicenter of the church scandal, O’Malley decided to sell the Italian Renaissance mansion which had been home to the previous four Boston archbishops. The millions of dollars for the sale would help pay settlements with victims.

The bearded, soft-spoken cardinal has even earned a nickname, a play on his status as a Capuchin: the cappuccino priest.

“Give me the cappuccino priest, not the Italians,” said Giuliana Piaella, 57, a waitress serving lunch at a Rome restaurant. “He’s a clean-looking guy, perfect age, and has a serious face. He has a calm face, full of self-confidence. He wears open sandals which show his humility. Catholics don’t do that anymore. We need someone who’s close to the people.”

It took O’Malley just six …read more
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News, Politics, Government

Beppe Grillo's protest group wins Italian hearts

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It says a lot about the political mood in Italy that when an unidentified package arrived at comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo‘s house, the bomb squad was called.

The package, delivered Thursday, actually contained bottles of Sardinian liquor — a congratulations gift for his group’s meteoric rise in Italy‘s latest election. The vote did not deliver a clear winner but showed Grillo’s anti-establishment 5 Star Movement to be the top vote-getter among political parties.

One thing is clear: Three-party gridlock creating the first hung parliament in modern Italian history has raised political tensions even as Italy‘s economic situation continues to deteriorate. New figures released Friday show the recession-mired Italian economy contracted 2.4 percent last year, while Italian unemployment rose to a record 11.7 percent in January and 39 percent for youths.

No party won a clear majority in both houses, but if there was a moral winner it was Grillo and his grassroots movement.

“If there was a winner in this election, it was surely Beppe Grillo. Grillo did well from Piedmont to Sicily. He did well in all regions of Italy, with few exceptions he surpassed 20 percent of the vote and in some places 30 percent. It is a national party, it did well everywhere,” said Edoardo Bressanelli, a political science professor at Rome’s LUISS University.

Grillo himself appeared surprised by the breadth of his success — along with it possibility for his movement to play a role in forming a new government.

“He expected to be important, but he thought he would be a hard opposition. He didn’t expect to be a big player,” Bressanelli said.

A total of 163 “Grillini” have won seats: 109 of 630 seats in Italy‘s lower house and 54 of 315 seats in its upper house. They rode a wave of popular anger at austerity measures, an overprivileged political class, a series of corporate scandals and an underlying absence of public morality. They are not numerous enough to form a government — Pier Luigi Bersani‘s center-left coalition won control of the lower house and is expected to get the first shot — but those loyal to Grillo certainly will have a key say in how Italy‘s new government is formed. Grillo won’t hold office himself due to a manslaughter conviction for a 1981 traffic accident that left three dead.

Despite market unease …read more
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News, Politics, Government

Parties may struggle to form government in Italy

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A center-left group of parties appears to have the best shot at forming a coalition government in Italy after an inconclusive national election, but the challenge is steep and comes amid public anger over austerity measures.

If Italian parties fail to form a governing coalition, new elections would be required, causing more uncertainty and a leadership vacuum, and that possibility has rattled financial markets across Europe.

Pier Luigi Bersani and his center-left allies appeared on Tuesday to have won a narrow victory in the lower house of parliament, while the Senate looks split with no party in control. Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian premier whose center-right coalition did better than expected, is a key player since his coalition is now the second-biggest bloc in the upper chamber.

Comic-turned-political leader Beppe Grillo, whose 5 Star Movement capitalized on a wave of voter disgust with the ruling political class, had a surprisingly strong showing. His bloc of seats in Parliament could prove crucial in making any coalition government viable.

The two-day election on Sunday and Monday also was a clear rejection of the previous technocratic government led by Mario Monti. That government enacted wide-ranging reforms to the budget and the economy. Though its borrowing rates have fallen in financial markets, the cost to Italians has been high, with Italy mired in recession and unemployment on the rise.

Berlusconi has already ruled out an alliance with Monti, his predecessor, whom he blamed for driving Italy deeper into recession.

On Tuesday, a few seats in Parliament based on Italians’ voting abroad still remained to be decided, but their numbers won’t ease the gridlock. European leaders pleaded with politicians in Italy to quickly form a government to continue to enact reforms to lower Italy‘s critically high debt and spare Europe another spike in its four-year financial crisis.

Bersani said he was not opening talks with any potential partners until he submits his program to Italy‘s president, who taps a candidate to form a government.

Stinging from a loss of some 4 million votes compared to the last election in 2008, Bersani hasn’t yet identified who he could try to form alliances with. But top officials in his Democratic Left (PD) party were quick to rule out any deal with Berlusconi.

“As far as I go, absolutely not,” …read more
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News, Politics, Government

Q&A: Why Italian election has shaken investors

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Italy‘s inconclusive election has rattled markets and raised the fear that Europe‘s crisis over too much government debt could flare again after several months of calm.

European stocks fell sharply Tuesday and Italy‘s borrowing costs climbed after voters rejected the austerity policies and reforms of the former Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Yet no political group won enough seats to control both houses of parliament. In the voting, a center-left alliance led by Pier Luigi Bersani won control of the lower house, barely beating the center-right alliance of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Bersani’s forces did not win control of the Senate upper house, not even with the help of a small group led by Monti

Much remains uncertain: how long it will take to form a government, whether it will be solid enough to pass legislation, and whether it would keep Monti’s pro-growth reforms.

If nothing works out, there could even be new elections.

Here are questions and answers about why all that worries people elsewhere in Europe and beyond.

Q: Why all the investor alarm?

A: Above all, investors are afraid the eurozone will go back to where it was last July.

Then, doubts about the ability of heavily indebted euro countries Spain and Italy to manage their debts raised the specter of a government defaulting on its bond payments and spreading financial turmoil across Europe.

It was only when the European Central Bank offered to buy unlimited amounts of an indebted country’ bonds that the crisis abated.

Q: Are there other worries?

A: Italy is an important partner in fixing the euro’s deeper problems — such as creating an EU banking supervisor that could strengthen the region’s financial system. Having the third largest country politically paralyzed will slow down an already drawn-out process.

New elections could bring an anti-euro government into power. Former comedian Beppe Grillo, leader of the third-placed Five Star Movement protest party, has talked about a referendum on euro membership.

Q: What’s wrong with Italy?

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Articles of Interest

Bunga Bungle: Italy Elections Jolt Crisis Back To Life: Seven And A Half Things To Know

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

Science has determined that people need to know 7.5 things per day, on average, about the world of business. You can’t argue with science. Lucky for you, The Huffington Post has an email newsletter, delivered first thing every weekday morning, boiling down the day’s biggest business news into the 7.5 things you absolutely need to know. And we’re giving it away free, because we love you, and also science. Here you go:

Thing One: Bunga Bungle: Italy’s politics have almost literally become a clown show, and they’re threatening to plunge Europe and the rest of the world right back into the nightmare circus of the debt crisis.

Early Italian election results on Monday showed a nearly perfect stalemate between three incompatible political camps, two of which are run by actual or figurative clowns: A protest party led by the comedian Beppe Grillo, and the right-wing populist party of the hustler sex zombie Silvio Berlusconi. The third wheel on this clown car is a center-left party that might have actually demonstrated some governing competence, but which now may have to do business with its antithesis, Berlusconi, in order to head off a re-vote that could result in a landslide for Grillo, Bloomberg writes.

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Articles of Interest

Huge Protest Vote Leaves Italy Facing Deadlock

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

* Global markets shaken by fears of new euro zone instability
* Vote is stunning success for populist movement
* Berlusconi stages comeback but cannot govern alone
* Centre-left big losers although will try to form government
By Barry Moody and James Mackenzie
ROME, Feb 25 (Reuters) – A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption left the euro zone’s third-largest economy facing a dangerous vacuum on Monday after an election in which no group won enough votes to form a government.
The result, in which anti-euro parties took more than 50 percent of the vote and a novice populist movement scored a stunning success, rocked global markets with fears of a new euro zone crisis.
Europe‘s common currency slumped against the dollar and yen and U.S. stocks suffered their biggest one-day drop since November.
With more than 99 percent of returns in from polling stations, results showed the centre-left had taken a slim victory of around 130,000 votes in the lower house of parliament, enough to give it comfortable control thanks to a big winner’s bonus.
But no party or likely coalition won enough seats to form a majority in the upper house, creating a deadlocked parliament – the opposite of the stable result that Italy desperately needs to tackle a deep recession, rising unemployment and a massive public debt.
The outcome fanned fears of a new European financial crisis, with prospects of a long period of paralysis and uncertainty in Italy.
“This is the worst possible outcome from the market‘s point of view … It seems inevitable that there will be a new election,” said Alessandro Tentori, Citigroup head of global rates.
The result was an extraordinary success for Genoese comic Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist 5-Star …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

News, Politics, Government

Italy faces political gridlock after crucial election

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The prospect of political paralysis hung over Italy on Monday as partial official results in crucial elections showed an upstart protest campaign led by a comedian making stunning inroads, and mainstream forces of center-left and center-right wrestling for control of Parliament’s two houses.

The story of the election in the eurozone’s third largest economy was shaping up to be the astonishing vote haul of comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, whose 5 Star Movement has capitalized on a wave of voter disgust with the ruling political class.

Another surprise has been the return as a political force of billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, who was forced from the premiership at the end of 2011 by Italy‘s debt crisis, and whose forces now had a strong chance of capturing the Italian Senate. His main rival, the center-left Pier Luigi Bersani, appeared headed toward victory in Parliament’s lower house.

The unfolding murky result raised the possibility of new elections in the coming months and bodes badly for the nation’s efforts to pass the tough reforms it needs to snuff out its economic crisis. After surging in the wake of exit polls, Milan’s main stock index slumped with first projections before closing up slightly.

The Italian election has been one of the most fluid in the last two decades thanks to the emergence of Grillo’s 5 Star Movement, which has throbbed with anger with politics as usual. The movement came against a backdrop of harsh austerity measures imposed by technocrat Premier Mario Monti — who has fared miserably in the elections.

Many eligible voters didn’t cast ballots, and a low turnout is generally seen as penalizing established parties. The turnout, at just under 75 percent, was the lowest in national elections since the republic was formed after World War II. Disgust with traditional party politics likely turned off voters, although snow and rain — this was Italy‘s first winter time national vote — also could be a factor.

The decisions Italy‘s government makes over the next several months promise to have a deep impact on whether Europe can decisively stem its financial crisis. As the eurozone’s third-largest economy, its problems can rattle market confidence in the whole bloc and analysts have worried it could fall back into old spending habits.

Bersani, a former communist, has reform credential as the architect of a series of liberalization measures and has shown a willingness to join with Monti, if necessary. But he could be hamstrung by the more left-wing of his party.

His party would have to win both houses to form a stable government, and given the uncertainty of possible alliances, a clear picture of prospects for a new Italian government could take days. It is all but impossible that Bersani would team up in a “grand coalition” with his arch-enemy Berlusconi.

Grillo’s camp also played down the prospect of cooperation with the ex-premier, who has been embroiled in sex and corruption scandals.

“Dialogue with Berlusconi? It is very difficult to imagine that Berlusconi would propose useful ideas (for the movement),” said 5 Star Movement candidate Alessandro Di …read more
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Comic's protest movement shakes up Italy election

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The burly man with a shock of silver curls and a scruffy beard gesticulates wildly on the Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, unleashing a sprawling diatribe against the political establishment.

“Send them home, send them home!” Beppe Grillo cries, as tens of thousands of supporters send up a deafening cheer.

Crisis-hit Italians are fed up. And no one is tapping that vein of outrage better than comic-turned-political agitator Grillo and his anti-establishment 5 Star Movement.

Grillo fills piazzas from Palermo deep in the south to Verona up north with Italians who seem to get some catharsis from his rants against the politicians who drove the country to the brink of financial ruin, the captains of industry whose alleged illegal shenanigans are tarnishing prized companies — and the bankers who aided and abetted both.

Grillo’s campaign is significant not only because he shows strong chances of being the third — some project even the second — party in Parliament after the Sunday and Monday vote. The 5 Star Movement is the strongest protest party ever seen in Italy, creating a fluid and unpredictable electorate at a time when the nation needs a clear direction to fight its economic woes. A strong election showing for Grillo could hinder coalition-building efforts among mainstream parties, leading to a period of political paralysis.

“Grillo cannot be underestimated,” said Renato Mannheimer, one of Italy‘s most respected pollsters. “He is very important,”

“More than protest, Grillo is an expression of disappointment in this political class. His followers are not anti-political. Most are interested in politics, but these politicians disgust them.”

The most recent polls of voter sentiment show Grillo in third place, with 17 percent of the vote, behind Pier Luigi Bersani, the center-left candidate for premier, who enjoys 33 percent of the vote and Silvio Berlusconi‘s center-right coalition with the Northern League in second with 28 percent. Premier Mario Monti‘s centrist coalition is preferred by 13 percent of voters in the COESIS poll of 6,212 respondents, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percent.

A trading scandal at Italy‘s third largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, as well as accusations of corruption at the government-controlled Finmeccanica and the Italian gas and oil giant Eni have served recently to push a stream of outraged voters into Grillo’s arms.

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Polls show Berlusconi gaining in national election

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The last political polls to be published before Italy‘s national elections suggest that ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi is gaining ground on the center-left candidate.

Several polls published Friday in major Italian dailies show Berlusconi’s coalition would receive about 28 percent of the vote, up about two points from a week earlier, while the center-left coalition dropped a couple of points in the same period to about 35 percent.

Another change: comic/political activist Beppe Grillo is gaining, and in some polls overcoming Mario Monti‘s centrist coalition. Grillo’s anti-establishment campaign has resonated with voters in the wake of the Monte dei Paschi banking scandal.

Italian election rules ban publication of polls of voter sentiment during the last 15 days of the campaign. The election will be held Feb. 24-25.

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Italian bank scandal becomes electoral issue

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An Italian comedian-turned-political activist attacked the head of Monte dei Paschi bank over a trading scandal on Friday. Angry shareholders, meanwhile, sought explanations for millions in expected losses before accepting a capital increase needed to safeguard the bank.

Beppe Grillo, a popular comedian whose anti-establishment 5 Stelle movement is fourth in the polls ahead of next month’s elections, accused the bank of covering up a hole he estimated at €14 billion (€19 billion).

Such a loss would put it on par with the fraud that sank dairy company Parmalat, the largest to date in Europe. It is also far above most estimates for the loss from three trades, which range in the hundreds of millions of euros.

Chairman Alessandro Profumo, the former head of Unicredit who took over last year, challenged Grillo, a shareholder, to back up his allegation.

“Tell me where this comes from? There is no hole,” Profumo said, according to Italian news agency LaPresse.

The heated exchange took place at a shareholders’ meeting that approved capital increases needed for the bank to receive up to €3.9 billion ($5.22 billion) in state aid. The aid includes €500 million to cover losses from three transactions that had been allegedly covered up. The lion’s share of the aid will help the bank, which has been hit hard by the European debt crisis, meet new capital requirements.

Profumo said it was too early to provide details of the three complex financial transactions, one of which will reportedly result in a €200 million loss in 2012. The bank is investigating the transactions and is due to present the results in mid-February.

The scandal at the world’s oldest running bank has quickly become fodder for campaigning politicians, with accusations flying of a lack of oversight and political meddling in the bank.

Italian Economics Minister Vittorio Grilli said the problems with the trades “could come to light now” because some of them carried such long expiration dates, meaning losses were only booked recently.

Grilli is set to testify to a parliamentary finance committee on Tuesday. He will have to answer questions over the handling by Premier Mario Monti‘s 13-month-old government‘s handling. It has been criticized for failing to provide adequate oversight and for providing aid to Monte dei Paschi.

Monti, speaking on RAI state radio, said Italian banks were “among the most solid in Europe” and that the government would be repaid the bailout money.

The board of Montepaschi, as it is more commonly known, on Thursday issued a statement expressing concern over what it called the “exploitation” of the events by politicians and other public figures — and warned that the use of such phrases as “failure” were both without basis and damaged the bank’s clients, shareholders and employees.

The scandal over the transactions caused shares to lose 20 percent of their value in three days of trading. The rebounded a full 14 percent to €0.26 on Friday as investors bought into expectations that Italy would not allow the bank, founded in 1472, to fail.

The bank’s former chairman has resigned from his latest job at the Italian Banking Association as a result of the revelations. The Bank of Italy claims the former management hid the transactions, which were only revealed by the new team that took over last year.

____

Angela Charlton contributed from Davos, Switzerland.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News