Former Italian PM Berlusconi Dies at 86

Facts

• Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who led three governments between 1994 and 2011, has died at the age of 86 at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan.¹
• Berlusconi, who had continued to be a senator and leader of the Forza Italia party, had been discharged from the hospital last month after being treated by his personal physician during a multi-day visit.²
• The former Prime Minister had also been hospitalized with COVID in 2020, describing the period as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal" of his life. Aides had revealed that he was readmitted to the hospital last Friday for what was described as pre-planned tests.³
• Berlusconi's political career saw repeated scandals, including his acquittal on charges of having paid for sex with an underage girl in 2010, as well as being expelled from the Italian Senate in 2013 following a tax fraud conviction.⁴
• Berlusconi, also a member of the European Parliament since 2019, was estimated to hold a net worth of approximately $7B from ventures including his ownership of the Italian soccer club AC Milan from 1986 to 2017 and the controlling shareholder of Italy’s largest commercial broadcaster, Mediaset.⁵

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²FOX News, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴Evening Standard, and ⁵CNBC.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Sky News. Berlusconi was undoubtedly controversial, but his boastful nature — the "Trump before Trumpism" — paved the way to the longest combined Prime Minister career in Italy since World War II. Even as a billionaire with a lavish lifestyle, he gave regular Italians a voice when their establishment politicians were tone-deaf. While his personal life wasn't without blemishes, no one can deny his popularity and lasting impact on the Italian polity.
• Left narrative, as provided by Guardian. While Berlusconi may be gone now, his legacy and revival of right-wing populism can still be witnessed everywhere. Italy's new regime has further shifted the country right, making his years in power comparatively moderate, but his proto-Trumpism must not be forgotten. Unfortunately, it is thanks to Berlusconi that corruption, hypocrisy, and cynical governance have infected modern politics.