Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suffered a stinging political defeat on Monday when voters overturned laws passed by his government that would have restarted Italy's nuclear energy program, privatized the water supply and granted him immunity from prosecution.
Did you get that? Berlosconi was trying to shove past the voters two laws which by any standard of decency shouldn't even be on the agenda: water and justice. He wanted to turn the consumption of water into a for-profit venture AND he wanted to avoid a proper trial for his disgusting actions:
Without the immunity provision, Mr. Berlusconi himself is now expected to be forced to participate in several pending trials, including one in which he is accused of paying for sex with an underage woman, nicknamed Ruby Heartstealer, and then abusing his office to help release her after she was arrested for theft.
To make matters worse, Italian law states that for a referendum to pass, more than 50% of eligible voters must actually vote. What did Berlusconi do?
Before the referendum, Mr. Berlusconi had said he was not going to vote, a statement widely interpreted as discouraging turnout, and several government ministers said they would also abstain.
Thank god the Italian people were awake enough to reject this ridiculous power grab. Now let's hope that the opposition can force a vote of confidence, which should result in the fall of the Berlusconi government...finally.
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Tags: Berlusconi, Italy, nuclear power, referendum
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