Italy

Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the Forza Italia party, was returned as prime minister in the May 2001 general election when the Freedom Alliance won a comfortable majority in the Chamber of Deputies and a narrower victory in the Senate. He was formally sworn in on June 11 and established a strongly right-wing Cabinet. Berlusconi pledged to make tax cuts and revive Italy’s flailing economy. The first major issue for his new government was the hosting of the G8 conference in Genoa in July, but the summit was overshadowed by violence and rioting and the death of a protester shot by police. Several hundred other protesters were injured in the rioting. In October Berlusconi was cleared by an Italian court of charges of corruption relating to a long-running case in which his employees had been charged with bribery and false accounting.

Italy’s worst air disaster in 30 years occurred at Milan’s Linate airport on October 8, 2001. A Scandinavian Airlines jet and a light aircraft collided in fog on the runway: 118 people were killed.

In line with 11 other European countries, Italy introduced Euro notes and coins on January 1, 2002. Italy’s foreign minister Renato Ruggiero resigned in protest at the Eurosceptic views of his colleagues, most notably those of the prime minister, with whom he had clashed repeatedly. Italy faced a number of general strikes in the autumn with workers protesting about new labour laws. Berlusconi succeeded in pushing through a criminal justice reform bill that his critics said was deliberately engineered so that Berlusconi could avoid facing corruption charges regarding the bribery of judges. Former leader Giulio Andreotti was not as fortunate: he was sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of a journalist in 1979. Eighty-three-year-old Andreotti appealed against the sentence and in November 2003 was acquitted of the charge by Italy's highest court. Andreotti had always claimed that he was the victim of a Mafia vendetta. In July 2003 parliament passed a law granting the prime minister (that is, Berlusconi) immunity from prosecution during his trial on charges of corruption. The law was overturned by the constitutional court in January 2004. In December, judges applied a statute of limitations to the charges against Berlusconi, effectively acquitting him.

However, economic stagnation in Italy continued to erode support for Berlusconi and his government. Following poor results in April 2005's regional elections, the ruling coalition collapsed after two parties withdrew their support. This brought to an end Italy’s longest-serving government since 1945. Nevertheless, Berlusconi was asked by the president to form a new coalition. It took office a few days later and comprised Berlusconi's Forza Italia as well as the National Alliance, the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats (UDC), and the Northern League.

In April 2006’s general election Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition of parties, Casa delle Liberta, lost by an extraordinarily narrow measure in both houses of parliament. The poll followed a fractious electoral campaign between Berlusconi and Romano Prodi, who led the centre-left coalition, L’Unione. After weeks of prevarication, Berlusconi resigned in May. Prodi was asked to form a government once the issue of a new president had been resolved. Giorgio Napolitano was elected president and sworn in on May 15; Prodi was sworn in two days later. His new Cabinet included roles for Massimo D’Alema and Giuliano Amato, both former prime ministers. Prodi resigned in February 2007 but after winning votes of confidence in both houses was prevailed upon to stay in office. Prodi announced plans for the withdrawal of Italian forces from Iraq, though he defended the military presence in Afghanistan. The fragile nature of the governing coalition made it difficult for him to enact the reforms he believed necessary to ensure Italy’s future prosperity and in January 2008 the centrist Udeur party withdrew from the government. Prodi was forced to hold votes of confidence in both houses of parliament and after defeat in the Senate he submitted his resignation. Napolitano once again asked him to remain in office as a caretaker prime minister while a solution to Italy’s vexing problem of short-lived governments was sought.