

Berlusconi’s Zelensky-Critical Comments Spark Internal Debate in EPP
Some EPP lawmakers have threatened to boycott an upcoming center-right gathering in Naples if Berlusconi attends.
Some EPP lawmakers have threatened to boycott an upcoming center-right gathering in Naples if Berlusconi attends.
It remains uncertain how Berlusconi’s controversial statements will affect the unity of Italy’s center-right governing coalition.
If the forecast is correct, the conservative, anti-establishment coalition could secure 245 out of 400 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 127 of 200 seats in the Senate, garnering a comfortable majority in both legislatures.
If elections were held today, nearly half of Italy’s electorate would cast their ballots for one of Italy’s three center-right coalition parties.
At this time, no coalition has endorsed a candidate. While the current Prime Minister Mario Draghi is the favourite for the presidential election, his potential election would cause as many problems as it would solve.
The choice of the Italian president is the result of complicated negotiations between the different parties. For many years, the position has remained in the hands of the centre-left, but the right-wing, which nowadays has a relative majority, may be able to win the vote for the first time since the demise of the Christian democracy in the 1990s.
Silvio Berlusconi likes to recall that he once made a promise to his mother that one day he would become President of the Italian Republic.