For the past four years, Italy has been on the receiving end of wave after wave of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. During this period, with the leader of Forza Italia out of the way, EU leaders sincerely believed that Silvio Berlusconi's political career had been consigned to history. Troubled by endless scandals, the former Italian prime minister was asked to resign by his own party.

Although Berlusconi's conviction for tax fraud means that he is banned from holding public office, the 81-year-old has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. In the run-up to Italy's March 4 elections, this discredited tycoon is believed to be a potential kingmaker.

Berlusconi, however, does not command the support he had in his heyday. Latest polls show that his party, Forza Italia has been polling only around 15 per cent, almost half of what it used to. But as things stand at the moment, Berlusconi is on course to drive the right wing coalition that includes the hard-line Northern League to victory.

As a result of Italy's political fragmentation and chronic economic stagnation, Berlusconi has also won the hearts and minds of various citizens and continues to flourish. That he has been able to step back into the political frame reflects the dismal failure by Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni to tackle the migration crisis and to deliver economic prosperity. In all of this, however, Italy is a victim of its own politicians (how I hate this word). It is also a victim of a round of failures at EU level.

 

Jos Edmond Zarb

Birkirkara