Berlusconi proposes changes to constitution

Ex Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sought to rescue his own political career and centre-right party from oblivion by proposing on the 25 May 2012 sweeping constitutional changes that would model Italy on the French system, with himself as a possible candidate to become a newly empowered president.

Commentators on the left and right agreed that Italy was facing its gravest political crisis since the collapse of the old system dominated by the Christian Democrats amid the corruption scandals of the early 1990s. The fragmentation of the centre-right under Mr Berlusconi’s 18-year leadership – as demonstrated in the anti-establishment votes and low turnout that marked the local elections in 2012 – had left a void, fuelling uncertainty over what form of government would succeed Mr Monti after parliamentary elections due early in 2012.

ESO: Background information: Italians spurn main parties in local polls http://www.europeansources.info/record/italians-spurn-main-parties-in-local-polls/

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