Berlusconi gets the boot from Italian parliament

Before the senate voted to remove him with immediate effect, the former prime ministers said, ‘We are ready for death,’ citing the words of the Italian national anthem played to a crowd of more than 1,000 flag-waving supporters in the street outside his residence. ‘This is a bitter day,’ he proclaimed, attacking what he called a leftist senate backed by a biased judiciary that he said had unjustly convicted him in August. The billionaire businessman stayed away from the day-long debate on the motion to expel him from parliament where he has held a seat since his first of three election victories in 1994. One of his newspapers branded his political enemies as the ‘firing squad’ while his loyalists in the senate denounced his imminent expulsion as a political assassination.

Mr Berlusconi declared his intention to remain ‘in the field’ as leader of his rebranded but reduced Forza Italia party, even though an anti-corruption law passed in 2012 bars convicted criminals such as Mr Berlusconi from holding public office for six years, and his conviction for tax fraud carries a one-year sentence he is to serve under house arrest or through community service.

‘After 20 years he is leaving the scene like Al Capone,’ rejoiced Antonio di Pietro, a former anti-corruption magistrate, comparing Mr Berlusconi to the Chicago gangster who was finally jailed on federal charges of tax evasion. ‘Silvio Berlusconi has suffered a political assassination but he is far from dead,’ wrote Renato Brunetta, his loyal parliamentary whip. While Mr Berlusconi was addressing his rally, a few blocks away Piero Grasso, speaker of the senate, was struggling to maintain order.