Berlusconi - Back as Italian PM!

It was back on May 2 2006 that Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Italian Prime Minister.  Today, he and his cabinet have been officially appointed, again.

 

This makes it Italy's 62nd post-WW2 government.  And since WW2 ended in 1945, 63 years ago, this makes Italy one of the most politically unstable countries in Europe.

 

This is the third time Berlusconi has been PM, and again, just as the last time, because he owns MediaSet, and as PM is responsible for appointing some of the top management at RAI, there is a permanent conflict of interest. 

 

Berlusconi's two previous times as Prime Minister could best be described as mixed.  HIs May 1994 election as PM only lasted until January 1995, due to political squabbles within the coalition.  His election in 2001 lasted much longer than the previous one, almost 5 years in fact.  But the MediaSet/RAI issue dogged his tenure and towards the end of his premiership, investigations into him managed to bring in Labour minister Tessa Jowell and her husband into the controversy.

 

How long Berlusconi will last this time, only time will tell, but you can be sure of this: He will do everything he can to stay in the spotlight, and he will use RAI and MediaSet to do that.  He did it before, and unquestionably, he would do it again.