'Bunga, Bunga' Berlusconi meets an ignoble end

PRIME MINISTER Silvio Berlusconi was greeted with jeers and boos as he finally left office last night after ruling Italy on and off for 17 years.
 
Berlusconi, who had promised to step down earlier this week once parliament passed a tough set of austerity powers, handed his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano after the reform package was agreed last night. The move paves the way for a new government to be formed to tackle Italy’s ailing economy.
 
The Observer reports that the 75-year-old was forced to leave the presidential residence through a side entrance, to chants of “buffoon, buffoon” from thousands of demonstrators outside.
 
According to The Sunday Telegraph, the crowds shouted "You should die” and chanted "Thief, go home". Some carried placards that read "Game Over" and "Bye Bye Silvio". Berlusconi’s car was reportedly pelted with coins.
 
It was an ignominious end to the political career of Italy’s longest serving post-war prime minister. As The Sunday Times notes, Berlusconi “was not always the man the markets love to hate”. In 1994, the year of his first election, the media mogul who had become a billionaire at 25 portrayed himself as a fresh, clean “non-politician”. Two decades later, embroiled in corruption allegations and notorious for his debauched ‘Bunga Bunga’ parties, he leaves office a diminished figure.
 
Mario Monti, a 68-year-old former European Commissioner, is set to replace Berlusconi as PM and create a government of technocrats to steer Italy through the austerity measures.
 
But The Sunday Telegraph’s Nick Squires questions whether Berlusconi really is gone for good. “The 75-year-old will continue to loom large in Italian life for years to come,” he says. “’Il Cavaliere’ – The Knight, as he is known to Italians – could even mount up, don his armour and ride again into the political arena.” ·