Italy's left is failing to make the most of Silvio Berlusconi's decline

Even friends of Berlusconi think his time is up, but the left is divided and frequently upstaged by a former fascist
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Tana de Zulueta
guardian.co.uk,
A leader of the opposition could hardly ask for more. If not quite on the run, Silvio Berlusconi is in a very tight corner indeed: a long-standing ally, the speaker of parliament, Gianfranco Fini, has demanded his resignation, four members of his government have resigned, the all-too-familiar sex scandals that have dotted his tenure seem to be spinning out of control and even his friends admit the man is a menace. A melancholy reference to autumn leaves in its headline, one of the Berlusconi family-owned newspapers, Il Foglio, recently listed a long catalogue of his political failings in a front-page editorial.
Good news, you might think, for the opposition. On the assumption, of course, that everyone knows who is part of it and who its leaders are. One of the peculiarities of the current political storm, however, is that these are both vexed questions in Italy today. A joint television appearance of Fini and Pier Luigi Bersani, the leader of the opposition Democratic party, in which the men were called upon to list the core values of the right and left, has brought the problem home.
Bersani, a former communist who became party leader last year, seemed happy enough to sketch out the familiar list: "Left," he kicked off by saying, "means that if you look at the world from the point of view of the weak you can actually make it a better place." His list included the right for the children of immigrants born in Italy to claim citizenship. Fini struck a patriotic note: "Right," he said, "means thinking it's wonderful, in spite of everything, to be Italian." Both men made pointed references to "decency" (Bersani) and "dignity" (Fini) in public office, in a bipartisan jab at the prime minister's shaky morals. Rather than an object lesson in the differences between the political left and right, however, Bersani and Fini's two short monologues sounded more like rival bids for the mantle of leader of the opposition.
Fini's increasingly open criticism of Berlusconi and his style of leadership has repeatedly upstaged the left. He had called for a new law on citizenship to improve the integration of Italy's growing immigrant population long before Bersani's recent statement – a position designed to irritate Berlusconi's last remaining allies: the anti-immigrant Northern League. Once an admirer of Benito Mussolini, the Fini makeover took on speed after his decision to break with Berlusconi's People of Freedom party in July. He has come round to decidedly liberal views on issues that remain highly contentious in the eyes of the Catholic church, such as same-sex couples and fertility treatment.
Some Democratic party members have found themselves openly wondering why the former fascist Fini sounds more progressive these days than some of their own more conservative MPs. Bersani's Democratic party is the result of a merger between the biggest, and more moderate, chunk of Italy's former Communist party, now members of the European Socialist bloc, and what was left of Italy's once-dominant Christian Democrat party. Though the two parties had long been in coalition, the political equivalent of marriage has proved difficult. Political infighting has seen out two party leaders in three years, causing problems for Bersani as well. The party is currently divided on the most urgent issue of the moment: who should replace Berlusconi as PM if he is forced out of office.
But feuding has a price. Recent events in Milan, where Italy's centre-left held coalition primary elections last Sunday to select a common candidate to run for mayoral elections next year, suggest the Democratic party is increasingly out of step with its own electorate. To nobody's surprise, Domenico Pisapia, a lawyer and distinguished former member of parliament championed by two small parties of the left, defeated the Democratic party candidate on a thin turnout.
Pisapia was supported by Nichi Vendola, the leftist president of the Southern Apullia region who stormed to victory in his own region in the teeth of fierce opposition from Democratic party leaders. For Italy's Democrats, still the largest party of the left, an awkward prospect looms. Could Vendola, Italy's self-defined "white Obama", trump them yet again in a national primary election for the leadership of a coalition push against Berlusconi?