“Italy is the country I love”. With these words, you enter contemporary political history, Silvio Berlusconi announced his “descent into the field” in 1994. A “life choice”, he explained, dictated by the refusal to live “in an illiberal country, governed by immature forces and by men closely linked to a politically and economically bankrupt past”. Until then, no one would have thought of a Prime Minister Berlusconi.
As no one today would think of his son Pier Silvio as the new leader of Forza Italia. Especially since he denies that he wants to get involved in politics. “Politics is a serious profession. Trades are studied and learned», he said to those who asked him about this possibility the day after his father’s death, even if the most mischievous have seen a glimmer in his wordswhen he explained that “something emotionally moved” and that he thought that «his relationship with the Italians and Italy, made of love and freedom, is a legacy that must live on». The words are repeated, as are the concepts: for the Berlusconis, politics is always an emotional affaira pact to be made with the Italians one by one, giving a spiritual father – rather than a party leader – to whoever is looking for him.
So the possibility of a Berlusconi bis exists. The thought touches him, has touched him, that’s where they chase each other in the air, in the voices, in Pier Silvio’s own head, and maybe the movements we are seeing in these weeks – in Mediaset, but also in Forza Italia – they are nothing more than a preparation (planned or spontaneous, it is not known) for most important Italian political succession of the new millennium.
On the other hand, since Berlusconi’s death there has been a lot of talk about his will and the division of his gigantic assets: Mondadori, Mediaset, Monza Calcio, the millions of euros of bequest. But the truth is that the most important chunk of Berlusconi’s fortune – that of political power – is currently left without an heir. Antonio Tajani – chosen for the after Silvio – does not seem to have the necessary strength to defend that 8% that Forza Italia still brought to the government of Giorgia Meloni in the 2022 policies. And besides the name Berlusconi – as has been announced – will remain in the symbol of Forza Italia even after his death.
A choice that could be a tribute to the memory of the founder, but which could also mean that FI voters will continue, even tomorrow, to vote for a Berlusconi. And if it must be a Berlusconi, there are all the indications why it is Pier Silvio. The emotional speech to Mediaset employees after his father’s funeral (“we are and will always be a proof of freedom”). The claim of a moral inheritance (“I am my father’s son”, in the letter sent to Republic) and a life that follows that of dad («one day dad called me to the kitchen, there was my diary and there was his. “Do you really have all these appointments? You’ve become me”»).
And even, on closer inspection, the purges in Mediaset in the post-Silvio period. This obsession with wanting to clean up, to tone it down, to eliminate trash from family networks could be the strongest sign of the fact that Pier Silvio Berlusconi is preparing to enter politics. And that he’s doing it, once again, in his father’s name. Who in 1994, in that famous speech on the “descend to the field”, spoke of freedom – as Pier Silvio did – of love for work – as Pier Silvio did – but also of the need for more elegant, calm, measured tones, in television as in politics. “Listen to them talk,” Silvio Berlusconi said about politicians in 1994. “Watch their state-paid newscasts, read their press. They no longer believe in anything. They would like to transform the country into a screaming, shouting, ranting, condemning square”.
A situation similar to the one that forced Pier Silvio to intervene. In Mediaset, for now. But the descent into the encore field, perhaps, is just around the corner.
Source: Vanity Fair

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