Beautiful Politicians
Pierferdinando blowing you a kiss from the Italian Parliament
The political fact we are going to discuss below is of such microscopic importance that you may wish to not read any further. We are slightly ashamed that we find it interesting, but what the hell…
At any rate, if you are still with us, the leader of a party here called the UDC – “Christian Democratic Union” – Mr. Pierferdinando Casini, explained to an interviewer the other day that his considerable physical beauty was a key element in his difficult relation with a former political ally, Silvio Berlusconi; in fact, “It is the reason behind his great envy for me.”
The comment attracted the attention it deserved, which is to say, very little. In another country it might have played more strongly. Journalists usually like brief quotes that reflect badly on everyone involved. Mr. Casini has a highly favorable impression of himself and it also may well be true that the 
pathologically vain Mr. Berlusconi finds in Casini’s regular features a motive for resentment. The two are shown together here on the left, so you can form your own idea of their relative beauty.
There are though other and possibly better motives for uneasiness. Casini’s party is, or rather until last week was, a lesser piece of Berlusconi center-right electoral coalition. It attracts only 6 or 7 percent of the popular vote and has been something of a junior partner, but the very poor showing of the current Prodi government since it took office earlier this year has now made it appear that it may be politically worthwhile to lead the Center-Right after all. Casini apparently feels he is the man for the job once Berlusconi fades, assuming he does so.
As a result, the UDC, which has not very secretly been lending outside support to bolster Prime Minister Prodi’s shaky administration, has now bolted from the Berlusconi coalition. It is hoping and praying the current lot of incompetents will be able to hang on in office long enough for Berlusconi’s health, or a least age – he is 71 – to catch up with him before new elections have to be called. We’ve already said something about this (here).
As we write, Mr. Berlusconi is in the States getting his heart worked on. His spokesman says this is a “regularly scheduled check-up,” though it appears to have been “regularly” scheduled only after Berlusconi collapsed on stage at a political rally a few weeks ago. According to others close to the former Prime Minister, it is the kind of check-up that involves knives, anesthetics and surgery, so Casini just might get lucky.
If he does, can he pull off his gamble? Probably not, though – and this is so quintessentially a part of Italian politics as to be hardly worth mentioning – he may be able to make sure no one else can. That is a source of power after all.
Mr. Casini, though not a complete feather-weight like, say, former Rome mayor Francesco Rutelli, the pretty face on the left, cannot be considered a heavy hitter. His party theoretically represents modern Catholic ideals, but the Church has difficulty embracing him with unfettered enthusiasm because of a clear opportunist streak and because he is, well, shacked-up with – and has given a child to – a lady who is not his wife. On the other hand, his present companion is the daughter of an immensely wealthy building contractor and newspaper owner, so it’s not as if he has lost his mind.
His real sin though is that of not being the most respected politician of the Center-Right. That would be Mr. Gianfranco Fini. Fini, a former Foreign Minister and leader of “AN” – “Alleanza Nazionale or “National Alliance” – is a class act, but is lumbered with his own tragic flaw. His party represents the current evolutionary stage of Fascist nostalgia and many of its members, with the interesting and obvious exception of Gianfranco Fini, get all misty-eyed whenever they remember the greatness that was Benito Mussolini.
Assuming circumstances of one kind or another eventually prod Silvio Berlusconi from the stage, one of these two men is likely to take his place. The problem is that they are politically and personally incompatible. Their ambitions are in direct contrast and the war of succession is likely to be bloody.
On the other hand, the dramatic divisions within the Center-Left mean things are no better over there, and if you really do need to take an axe to your nominal allies, this is probably as good a time as any.