Mint explainer: What is Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy?

• Berlusconi first rose to national prominence in the 1990s when he formed his conservative Forza Italia party. He was already a force to be reckoned with at the time, having gotten his start in real estate before building a large media empire that played a large role in bringing commercial television to Italy. He was also the owner of AC Milan, one of the most storied football clubs in the world.
• Berlusconi’s populist brand of politics, which many experts say was a forerunner of Donald Trump, brought him to power in the 1994 general elections. He was twice elected prime minister and served as prime minister for a total of nine years, showing remarkable staying power in Italy’s volatile, fragmented politics.
• Like Trump, Berlusconi built himself a political base that would remain the envy of his detractors. He won a major electoral victory in 2001, which allowed him to serve five years in office, a rarity in Italy’s fractious politics.
• His fans say that his use of television and his unique, bombastic political style modernized and changed the country’s politics. But his critics say his actions discredit Italy’s democracy.
• His achievements in office were mixed. His government’s failure to address the economic troubles affecting Europe’s third largest economy and the level of public debt was at the forefront of Italian politics during his time. Berlusconi was still PM after the 2008 financial crisis and voters’ backlash over his government’s economic policies forced him out of office in 2011.
• Berlusconi spent much of his career dealing with corruption and sex scandals that dogged him from his first foray into politics in the early 1990s. He was convicted of tax fraud in 2013 and sentenced to seven years in prison. Rumors also spread of his ties to the Italian Mafia.
• His critics allege that Berlusconi also undermined the rule of law in favor of his personal interests, and that he was instrumental in bringing Italy’s far right into the political mainstream.
• Despite this, he remained a force to be reckoned with. He backtracked from his tax-fraud conviction to become a member of the European Parliament. His party is also a junior partner in the current government led by Giorgia Meloni. As news of his death spread, politicians across the spectrum seemed to agree on one thing: Italy was decisively shaped by Berlusconi, for better or worse.

Updated: June 13, 2023, 03:40 PM IST