Italy's Mugabe wins again

Berlusconi’s victory is bad news especially for those who wanted Italy to become a normal country through the advent of a modern liberal and moderate right represented by Gianfranco Fini which no longer poses a danger to basic democratic norms.
It is bad news simply because Berlusconi is morally and politically corrupt as evidenced by the successful attempt to buy off opposition MPs like Scipoliti, a medical doctor who left the Italy of Values Party (the most vociferous anti Berlusconi party) because his colleuges did not take acupuncture seriously.
It is also bad news because this victory undermines Italy’s ties with western democracies shaken by Berlusconi’s ties with Putin and Ghaddafi.
Fundamentally Berlusconi’s victory is another obstacle for Italy in its bid to become a normal democratic country.
Today’s victory clearly reinforces a populist, extremist and xenophobic right wing which is the most backward member of the European People's Party.
Surely a 3 seat majority is no big political victory but it is surely a psychological boost which reinforces Berlusconi's aura of invicibility.
One thing is sure: today’s result excludes an alternative parliamentary majority which could change the rules of the game to ensure a fair contest in the next election.
The result increases the temptation of the clerical centrists led by Casini to supplant the secular liberals of Fini who will now have to re-invent themselves in opposition. Perhaps some of them will discover more common ground with the modern left when it comes to setting the rules regulating democracy and citizenship.
It is also a defeat for the left which till the very end hinged its bet on an alternative government appointed by the present parliament, a prospect which could well have turned Berlusconi from a capricious Nero to a martyr of a palace intrigue.
Obviously this is a catch 22 situation, for without changing the rules of the game there is a big chance that Berlusconi will crown himself President of the Republic.
Much depends on the ability of Bersani and Vendola to embrace modernity while still making fundamental and radical choices in politics. For while Berlusconi defies modernity in his conception of power, the left does not offer a coherent alternative economic policy.
The left still seems to excel in poetry rather than solutions addressing access to the labour market and precarious jobs.
Bersani's track record as an architect of liberalisations (in protected sectors like pharmacies and taxis) in Prodi's government and Vendola's ability to attract investment in solar energy in Puglia provide a glimpse of what a modern left could be like.
Instead of living in the world of fantapolitics the left will now have to win heart and minds for its own project of governance, standing on its own feet to win support of different social groups while reaching out to centrist and liberal forces to change the rules of the game with the ultimate aim of ridding Italy of its Mugabe.