Post date: Sep 18, 2013 3:27:41 PM
As a cross-party Senate committee deliberates on whether to remove former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi from the upper house of parliament, some Italians say they would be sorry to see him go.
ROME, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 18, 2013) (REUTERS) - Shoppers and office workers in the Italian capital on Wednesday (September 18) had mixed opinions about whether former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi should be expelled from parliament.
Italy's top court definitively convicted Berlusconi, 76, last month of tax fraud conspiracy at his Mediaset television empire.It sentenced him to a four-year jail term, commuted to one year under house arrest or in community service.
A cross-party Senate committee will vote later on Wednesday on whether Berlusconi should be expelled from parliament following the conviction, even though the media tycoon's allies have threatened to sink the government if the vote goes against him.
Walking across parliament square in the sunshine, housewife Rita Cocco didn't see any reason for Berlusconi to get special treatment.
"The law is equal for everyone. That's all I say," she said,
"Our MPs have to be the first to respect the law," Cocco added.
Others in the streets of Rome had a different opinion.
"From my point of view, he can stay in parliament," said Maurizio D'Ortenzio.
When asked why, he replied: "Because I have always respected Berlusconi as a great politician, and as a person that has succeeded as a businessman and as a political personality," D'Ortenzio answered.
According to a poll published last week nearly three-quarters of Italians think Berlusconi should be barred from the Senate.
And those interviewed on Wednesday seemed to echo the survey.
"I think justice must follow it's course so that he should be kicked out," said office worker Arnaldo Salerno.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which has the largest presence on the 23-member committee, maintains its position that Berlusconi must lose his seat.
Running into parliament for a meeting, Democratic Party MP Alessia Rotta said:
"The law is equal for everyone, that's what I think."
Some younger Italians say they are simply sick of the whole political ruling class.
"Don't ask me that question, because I'd eliminate all of them," said Stefania Rampulli, smiling.
Berlusconi's legal woes have been so long-running that she wasn't even sure at what point the court case had reached.
"If he is guilty, it's right that he leaves (parliament). If instead, he's found not guilty of the things he has done, let's see if he manages to bring Italy forward. But, if he's guilty he should pay just like everyone else," Rampulli concluded.
Berlusconi and his supporters say he is innocent and that magistrates, whom they accuse of being politically motivated, are trying to end his 20-year domination of Italy's political scene.
He says the centre-left will not be impartial in the Senate committee vote but rather use it to get back at their traditional political enemy.
Wednesday's vote is not the final stage in the debate on Berlusconi's fate, which must eventually go to a full vote on the Senate floor, but Berlusconi may choose to act pre-emptively if he sees the majority is against him.