| ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
The Contract with the Italians (Italian : Contratto con gli Italiani) is a document presented and signed by Silvio Berlusconi on May 8, 2001, during the television program Porta a Porta conducted by Bruno Vespa. With it Silvio Berlusconi, head of the opposition at the time, committed himself, in the event of electoral victory, to enact various reforms summarized in 5 points, and in case of failure to achieve at least 4 points, not to run again in subsequent elections.
The Contract with the Italians was not invented by Silvio Berlusconi, but was copied outright by his advisor Luigi Crespi from Newt Gingrich's Contract with America introduced six weeks before the 1994 US Congressional election.
Contract with the Italians,
between Silvio Berlusconi, born September 29, 1936, in Milan, leader of Forza Italia and Casa delle Libertà , in agreement with all the allies of the coalition, and the Italian citizens, it is hereby agreed as follows.
Silvio Berlusconi, in the event of electoral victory of Casa delle Libertà, commits himself as Prime Minister to achieve the following objectives in five years:
In the event that at the end of 5 years of government at least 4 of 5 of such goals were not achieved, Silvio Berlusconi formally agrees not to resubmit its nomination to the next parliamentary elections.
In witness,
The contract will be rendered valid and operative May 13, 2001 by the vote of Italian electors.
A great debate has emerged about these points have been respected or not.
Silvio Berlusconi has repeatedly publicly affirmed that four of the five have been respected. The first point, namely the lowering of the rates would not have been implemented because of resistance within the center-right coalition.
According to sociologist Luca Ricolfi, when asked if Berlusconi had honored the contract with the Italians, he replied: "No. He did not have to stand for election if he was a man of honor. He had only a promise kept completely out of five, that of pensions. On average, the promises of Berlusconi were kept only 60%. "
Journalists Marco Travaglio and Peter Gomez, in their book Le mille balle blu, have stated that none of the five points was complied and concluded ironically: "Although missed all five goals, Silvio Berlusconi is re-nominated. So does not maintain even the sixth and final commitment"
Berlusconi agreed to move to a system of two rates, a 23% (for incomes up to about 100,000 euros) and a 33% (for incomes over 100,000 euros), with the addition of the exemption from fees for incomes less than 11,000 per year, also provided for the total abolition of taxes on inheritance and donations. The economic measures led to a change of tax brackets. The two aliquots have not been introduced, while taxes on inheritance and donations have been effectively abolished for incomes over 350 million Lire (€180759.91). According to ISTAT data the tax burden from 2001 to 2004 decreased by 0.1%, from 40.7% to 40.6%, while according to estimates by the Berlusconi government, the tax burden from 2001 to 2004 would have fall by 0.4%, from 42.2% to 41.8% of GDP. [1] From the estimates of Marco Travaglio and Peter Gomez, however, the tax burden during the legislature has increased overall, taking into account the increase of local taxes and tariffs. [2]
The district police have been introduced gradually and according to estimates by the Ministry of the Interior in August 2005, arrived about 2200, covering about 500 districts or areas of 10,000 inhabitants (approximately 9% of Italian population). This has not positively impacted on the number of offenses, which increased during the term: in the first two years, from 2001 to 2003, the increase amounted to 6.7% annually. [3] From 2003 to 2004, allegations of crime that have led to prosecution increased by 3.7%. [2] [4]
Also in 2001, according to accounts by ISTAT, the number of crimes reported to the police was not 3 million, but 2,163,826.
In 2001, the Italian Labour Union (UIL) has calculated that the elders who received less than one million lire a month pension was 5,901,244, at the end of 2002 rose to about 8 million, according to statistics of the economist Tito Boeri. Those who have actually cashed the increase to one million lire (€516) were 1.8 million, about 25%, while about 6 million continue to receive a pension lower. To keep the promise, would have served from 11 to 17 billion EUR (about 1 and a half points of GDP). Therefore, Berlusconi decided to increase them only to those who was older than 70 years and couples with incomes not exceeding cumulative €6,800 per year (clause not mentioned in the Contract). [2]
The goal of halving unemployment has not been reached. According to Eurostat in January 2001 the unemployment rate was 9.9% (a halving would require to go down to 4.95%), five years later, in 2006 had fallen to 7.1%, a record low in Italy, but still above the 4.95%. The objective of the creation of 1 million and a half new employment, according to data published by Il Sole 24 Ore has not been achieved. In fact, although in 2006 has been reached a historic high of employed amounted to 22.5 million, the total increase in employment was 1,074,000 units, which should be deducted 343.000 regularized workers, then coming down to about 700.000 employment.
The fifth point involved "The opening of the sites for at least 40% of the investment scheduled in the Ten Year Plan for Great Works." Infrastructure Minister Pietro Lunardi claimed that adding up the works under construction and those entrusted, could be reached in June 2006 the 45% of investments. Considering only the actual opening of the construction sites, the data showed that the Ministry of Infrastructure in January 2006 has achieved 21.4% of the planned investments. If the forecasts come true the Ministry of Infrastructure, reported in the budget document known as the Law on goal four years after its approval, could be reached by June 2006 to cover a maximum of 25.4%. It is considered that the time that elapses from reliance, not counted in the Contract with the Italians, until the opening of its site can be significant. [5]
In January 2009 a civil court in Milan established that the document has no contractual value and therefore Silvio Berlusconi had no obligation to respect it as a binding document. [6]
Silvio Berlusconi was an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 2013; a member of the Senate of the Republic from 2022 until his death in 2023, and previously from March to November 2013; and a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2022, and previously from 1999 to 2001. With a net worth of US$6.8 billion as of June 2023, Berlusconi was the third-wealthiest person in Italy at the time of his death.
Mani pulite was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called "First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italian political parties. Some politicians and industry leaders committed suicide after their crimes were exposed. Antonio Di Pietro was the main judicial figure in charge of the investigation.
The Italian Radicals is a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy.
Cesare Previti is a former Italian politician, disbarred lawyer, and convicted criminal. Along with Marcello Dell'Utri, he was a close friend and right-hand of Silvio Berlusconi and founder of Forza Italia (FI).
The 2006 Italian general election was held on 9 and 10 April 2006. Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition The Union, narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms. Initial exit polls suggested a victory for Prodi, but the results narrowed as the count progressed. On 11 April 2006, Prodi declared victory; Berlusconi never conceded defeat and an ensuing dispute formed.
Marco Travaglio is an Italian journalist, writer, and pundit. Since 2015, he has been the editor-in-chief of the independent daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano. Travaglio began his journalistic career in the late 1980s under Indro Montanelli at Il Giornale and La Voce, then in the 2000s worked at La Repubblica and L'Unità, before becoming one of the founders of Il Fatto Quotidiano in 2009. Also the author of many books and a columnist for several other national newspapers and magazines, his main interests have been judicial reporting and current affairs and politics, dealing with issues ranging from the fight against the Italian Mafia to corruption.
The 2001 Italian general election was held in Italy on 13 May 2001 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. The election was won by the centre-right coalition House of Freedoms led by Silvio Berlusconi, defeating Francesco Rutelli, former mayor of Rome, and leader of the centre-left coalition The Olive Tree, and rising back to power after Berlusconi's first victory in the 1994 Italian general election.
Marcello Dell'Utri is a former Italian politician and senior advisor to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Formerly a senator in the Italian Senate, Dell'Utri has been found guilty of tax fraud, false accounting, and complicity in conspiracy with the Sicilian Mafia; the conviction for the last charge has been upheld on 9 May 2014 by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation which sentenced Dell'Utri to seven years in prison. The conviction is final and cannot be further appealed. The third criminal section of Palermo's Appellate Court declared Dell'Utri a fugitive in May 2014, when it was discovered he had fled the country ahead of the final court decision. After being detained in Lebanon, on 13 June 2014 Dell'Utri was extradited to Italy, where he served 4 years of imprisonment and 1 year of house arrest. He has been further sentenced in April 2018 to 12 years due to the State-Mafia Pact.
Trials and allegations involving Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) have been extensive and include abuse of office, bribery and corruption of police officers, judges and politicians, collusion, defamation, embezzlement, extortion, false accounting, mafia, money laundering, perjury, tax fraud, underage prostitution influence and witness tampering.
Giulio Tremonti is an Italian politician. He served in the government of Italy as Minister of Economy and Finance under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2004, from 2005 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2011.
The Editto bulgaro, also referred to as "the Bulgarian Diktat" or "the Bulgarian Ukase" in Italian newspapers, was a statement of Silvio Berlusconi, at the time Prime Minister of Italy, about the behavior of some journalists and television stars in the Italian media system, which was pronounced during a press conference with Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, at the time Prime Minister of Bulgaria, on 18 April 2002. It was soon followed by the removal from the air of the people Berlusconi had referred to: journalists Enzo Biagi and Michele Santoro, and comedian Daniele Luttazzi.
The second Berlusconi government was the 57th government of the Italian Republic and the first government of the XIV Legislature. It took office following the 2001 elections, and held office from 11 June 2001 until 23 April 2005, a total of 1,412 days, or 3 years, 10 months and 12 days. It held office for the longest period in the history of the Republic, and for the second longest period in the history of unified Italy since 1861. During its long tenure, its composition changed significantly. Following the poor performance of the centrist parties in the Italian regional elections of 2005, most of the ministers of the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats and the New PSI resigned from the government, which was succeeded by the third Berlusconi government.
Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani is an Italian politician who has served as the President of Sicily since 13 October 2022. Born in Palermo, Schifani was a prominent member of the now-defunct centre-right People of Freedom (PdL) and served in the Italian Senate from 1996 to 2022. He then joined the New Centre-Right (NCD) party in 2013 but left it in 2016 for Forza Italia (FI), the PdL's successor. From 29 April 2008 to 14 March 2013, he was President of the Senate.
The political career of Silvio Berlusconi (1994–2011) began in 1994, when Berlusconi entered politics for the first time serving intermittent terms as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011, his career was racked with controversies and trials; amongst these was his failure to honour his promise to sell his personal assets in Mediaset, the largest television broadcaster network in Italy, in order to dispel any perceived conflicts of interest.
Silvio Berlusconi was the Prime Minister of Italy, the head of the country's government, for almost ten years.
Silvio Berlusconi (1936-2023) was an Italian media mogul and Prime Minister of Italy who owned the largest broadcasting company in that country, Mediaset. His promises to sell off his personal assets to avoid conflicts of interest were never fulfilled, which sparked controversy throughout his terms in office. Berlusconi is a controversial figure in modern Italian politics: his tenure as Prime Minister was racked with scandalous sex affairs and poor judgement and decision-making. These events were widely covered by the media, drawing outcry from many of his Italian contemporaries and worldwide counterparts.
The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective members of the Senate of the Republic for the 18th legislature of the Italian Republic since 1948. The election took place concurrently with the Lombard and Lazio regional elections. No party or coalition gained an absolute majority in the parliament, even though the centre-right coalition won a plurality of seats as a coalition, and the Five Star Movement (M5S) won a plurality of seats as an individual party.
Articolo 18-bis Legge 91/1981, also known as Decreto Spalmadebiti and Decreto Salva Calcio, is an Italian decree-law introduced in 2003 by Law no. 27 of 2003, itself ratified the Law no. 282 of 2002 issued by the then Prime Minister of Italy and owner of AC Milan, Silvio Berlusconi, for which reason the law was considered among Berlusconi's many ad personam laws and an example of sportwashing. Officially known as the Tax Law Decree: 2.5% Tax Shield, Disposal of Properties and VAT Numbers, it was issued by the second Berlusconi government on 24 December 2002 and then converted into law by the Italian Parliament on 21 February 2003 with the Law no. 27 of 2003.
Berlusconism is a term used in the Western media and by some Italian analysts to describe the political positions of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In general, Berlusconism could be reassumed as a mix of conservatism, populism, liberism, and anti-communism.
Fedele Confalonieri is an Italian manager, current president of Mediaset and, since 2017, president of the Venerable Factory of the Duomo of Milan.
