by Keith Richmond
Pierluigi Bersani, a former communist, has been elected as the new leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, the main opposition to Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing government in Italy.
Mr Bersani beat Dario Franceschini and Ignazio Marino in a nationwide primary-style ballot open to anyone aged 16 or over and willing to pay €2 to take part. More than 2.5 million Italian voters did so.
He replaces Walter Veltroni, a former Deputy Prime Minister in Romano Prodi’s government, who stepped down as leader of the PD in February after suffering a heavy defeat in regional elections. Mr Franceschini, a former left-wing Christian Democrat, was chosen as a stop-gap leader until a leadership election could be held.
While Mr Franceschini was perceived as the Veltroni-style continuity candidate, Mr Bersani was seen as the candidate of the left, although he did introduce a package of measures to “liberalise the economy” when serving in the centre-left cabinet ousted last year.
But he has a reputation as a tough, no-nonsense political operator who, PD supporters think, will be able to take the fight to the right.
Mr Bersani, 58, has been a minister in several centre-left governments and now faces the challenge of trying to unseat Mr Berlusconi. He takes over with the Prime Minister dogged by scandals over his private life – including questions about his relationships with aspiring models and allegations over parties with call girls – which won’t go away. But Mr Berlusconi’s popularity, although reduced, has proved remarkably impervious to the gossip swirling about him.
This week, after an Italian court threw out an appeal by Tessa Jowell’s estranged husband David Mills against his conviction for taking a bribe from Mr Berlusconi, the Prime Minister angrily claimed that “communist prosecutors and communist judges in Milan” were out to destroy him.
The next big test of public opinion will be at the regional elections in March
