Farewell to the Knight

Farewell to the Knight

From Television to Politics: Berlusconi

According to Iran Gate, Silvio Berlusconi passed away on Monday, June 12, 2023, at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. He returned to the hospital after a long period of rest, which lasted for 45 days, to undergo tests related to chronic leukemia, which he had been suffering from. This return marked his end.

Berlusconi was born on September 29, 1936, in a middle-class family in the city of Milan. His father was a bank employee and his mother was a secretary. He was quickly recognized for his storytelling skills. While studying law at university, he played the double bass in a student music group and occasionally sang on pleasure boats.

He was described as a talented actor, an unrepentant playboy like Don Juan, a legendary figure who was unrestrained and seductive towards women, a populist par excellence, a showman with a always smiling gesture, and a self-centered person who knows how to communicate well with people. At the same time, he was described as a perfectionist. In 1977, he was awarded the Order of Merit for his work and was titled a Knight. It is worth mentioning that this title was revoked from him in 2014 after his criminal conviction.

Berlusconi’s Legacy

In fact, thinking about the history of Italy without considering Berlusconi is not possible. He started as a construction contractor and continued his adventure by creating a commercial television and then entering the world of sports and heading the football teams Milan and Monza.

After completing his studies in 1962, he founded a construction company and built a residential complex with 3,500 apartments on the outskirts of Milan, known as Milan 2. In 1973, he established TeleMilano, a television network that was initially intended to serve only his apartments. Within four years, he managed to acquire two more networks and broadcast his programs from a studio in the center of Milan.

In 1975, he started a holding company called Fininvest, and later in 1993, he ventured into buying other companies and rapidly expanding his assets. He also purchased numerous local television networks and challenged the monopoly of Italy’s state radio and television by connecting them together. In 1986, he added AC Milan, one of the most renowned football clubs in Italy, to his assets, in order to benefit from the Italian passion for football and generate additional income.

According to a report by the American magazine Forbes, Berlusconi is estimated to have personal assets of around 69 billion euros, making him the sixth wealthiest man in Italy and the 352nd wealthiest in the world. In 2009, the same magazine ranked him 12th in the list of the most powerful people in the world, due to his role in Italian politics.

Politics

His entry into politics occurred in 1994 when he founded the Forza Italia party, which forever changed the history of the country. A center-right party, it merged with the People of Freedom (PDL) in 2008 and then was relaunched independently in 2013.

Berlusconi’s plan was to attract moderate Italian voters by establishing a new party called Forza Italia and neutralize the threat of left-wing parties. However, many believed that his newfound interest in politics was a means to escape prosecution and investigations into his companies.

But he dismissed these claims, saying, ‘I have no need to go to the halls of power. I have homes all over the world, amazing yachts, beautiful airplanes, a beautiful wife, and a beautiful family. I have everything I need.’

He started working as a member of parliament in 1994 and was confirmed four times by the same parliament. In 2013, he was elected as a senator for the first time. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy for four terms.

For the first time in 1994, in the twelfth parliament, he became the second and third term as the Prime Minister. In the fourteenth parliament from 2001 to 2005 and 2005 to 2006, and finally in the sixteenth parliament, he became the Prime Minister for the fourth time from 2008 to 2011.

Berlusconi was able to win the 1994 elections through extensive advertising on multiple networks that he had access to and became the Prime Minister of a coalition government. However, his government did not last long due to disagreements among the three parties in the coalition on one side and Berlusconi’s indictment for tax fraud in a court in Milan on the other side, leading to the collapse of the government after only seven months.

However, Berlusconi returned to the position of prime minister in 2001, leading a coalition. The main focus of his election campaign was to bring about extensive changes in Italy’s economy, simplify the tax system, and increase retirement benefits. However, the worsening global economic situation meant that Berlusconi was unable to fulfill his promises. Despite changing the election law in favor of his coalition, he was defeated by a left-wing coalition led by Romano Prodi in 2006.

The Prodi government faced challenges from the very beginning, and less than two years later, Berlusconi became the prime minister of Italy again in April 2008. In the political elections on September 25, 2022, he also won in the single-member constituency of Monza, and after 9 years of absence, he returned to the Senate as a senator.

Each time it seemed that his political career had come to an end, to the surprise of his critics, he managed to return to the political arena. After coming to power, he passed a law that granted him and other high-ranking government officials immunity during their term, but the Constitutional Court declared it null and void. His tenure as prime minister and his government are referred to as the longest in Italian history.

The courts

We also didn’t believe his criminal record. In 2019, news was published stating that he had to go through 88 trials over a period of 25 years, and this figure was recorded in history. However, according to the Truenumbers data, these trials are only 31 cases, three of which were ongoing and involved charges of embezzlement, tax fraud, account manipulation, and attempted bribery of a judge.

Some of these cases reached the trial stage, but he was either acquitted or managed to overturn his convictions in the appellate court. In the remaining cases, the cases were left unresolved due to the passage of time.

But fortunately, his luck eventually ran out and in 2013, he was convicted of tax fraud. This was the only trial that reached a final verdict. The court related to Mediaset found him guilty of tax evasion, false accounting, and embezzlement, sentencing him to four years in prison and stripping him of his seat in the Senate. However, considering his age, the prison sentence was converted to one year of community service.

Geopolitical Knight

During his years as Prime Minister, Berlusconi shaped Italy’s foreign policy based on his own beliefs. His diplomacy consisted of personal relationships and deep connections with the United States, Russia, and Europe.

Love him or hate him, Berlusconi has always been in the spotlight during his three decades of political activities in Italy and beyond. While his critics remember his mistakes, his admirers emphasize his contributions to resolving various international crises, thanks to his unique approach of having personal relationships with other leaders and his proactive nature. From his special friendship with Vladimir Putin to his travels to Porto Rotondo with Tony Blair and his wife, from his positive relationship with Gaddafi to distancing himself from Angela Merkel and Sarkozy, and his recent obsession with viewing China as a global threat.

Putin and Berlusconi

The special and evident friendship between these two individuals was formed during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. Over time, their relationship was strengthened through frequent meetings and sessions, evolving into a bond that went beyond their political destinies and choices. As a result, the President of Russia was the first world leader to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister, expressing his condolences in a message to President Sergio Mattarella. The death of Berlusconi is an irreparable loss and a great sorrow.

The friendship with the Kremlin leader turned the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, into a champion and a historic mediator between Washington and Moscow. The summit of leaders at the Air Force Base on the outskirts of Rome embodied the hope for a new era in Western-Russia relations based on mutual trust. He also managed to leverage this special bond to resolve the crisis in Georgia and prevent the escalation of a dangerous tension.

Friend to all

Although the relationship between Berlusconi and Putin occasionally worried Washington and NATO allies, it never managed to shake the axis with the United States. In parallel with Putin, Berlusconi established a strong and solid relationship with George W. Bush. In 2003, despite Berlusconi’s belief that the war against Saddam Hussein was a mistake, he supported the United States in the invasion of Iraq, and their friendship with Bush remained intact ever since.

The positive relationship between these two leaders led to the opening of a new chapter in relations. On the other hand, Berlusconi, with his particular insight and understanding of the importance of the Mediterranean Sea, established personal relationships with many regional leaders, including those from France and Germany. However, during the Arab Spring in 2011, these relationships disappeared, from Ben Ali in Tunisia to Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and most importantly, Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Berlusconi signed a friendship treaty with Gaddafi in 2008 during a historic meeting under Gaddafi’s famous tents, paving the way for Italian companies to operate in this North African country.

Another friend of Berlusconi was the current Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and it was precisely because of this friendship bond that in 2009 he succeeded in convincing Ankara not to use its veto power in the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Prime Minister of Denmark, as the leader of NATO. This was because Turkey was very angry at the time due to the anti-Islamic cartoons drawn in Denmark.

His relations with Israeli leaders, from Benjamin Netanyahu to Shimon Peres, were also very good and strong. Whether we like it or not, Silvio Berlusconi was an influential figure on the international scene, and the messages of condolences sent from various geographical regions testify to this. The Spanish newspaper, El País, wrote that Silvio Berlusconi was a man who defined and explained Italy in the 21st century.

The words of Giorgia Meloni

The Prime Minister of Milan, who had signed the famous Skrofa Agreement with Silvio, posted a video message to his ally a few hours after the news of Berlusconi’s death. Silvio Berlusconi was above all a fighter, a man who never feared defending his beliefs. It was precisely his courage, determination, and will that made him one of the most influential men in the history of Italy, allowing him to make real progress in the world of politics, communications, and business.

The Prime Minister continued, saying that he learned from Berlusconi that he should never be limited, never surrender. Together, they fought in many battles, experienced defeats and victories, and achieved the goals they set together.

President Mattarella’s words

In a message commemorating Silvio’s death, Prime Minister Mattarella wrote that he received the news with deep sorrow. Silvio Berlusconi, the founder and leader of Forza Italia, the champion of many seasons in Italian politics and republican institutions, has passed away.