Molti giornalisti italiani sono oggi in sciopero. Sull'intervento di Berlusconi
a Vicenza, per ora, non si trova molto, a parte i servizi della Tv e qualche
agenzia.
Steve Scherer ha scritto per Bloomberg una breve cronaca.
Di seguito, la traduzione di alcuni stralci che riportano qualche dettaglio
interessante:
"Al suo arrivo Berlusconi ha ricevuto un forte applauso, che rivaleggiava
con quello ricevuto ieri da Prodi, e contrastava con le critiche rivoltegli pochi minuti prima da Montezemolo.
Prima che il presidente del Consiglio affrontasse la platea, Montezemolo e Berlusconi non si sono stretti la mano.
Berlusconi ha poi ignorato i limiti di tempo richiesti da Ferruccio De Bortoli,
moderatore del dibattito, e direttore del quotidiano finanziario Il Sole
24 Ore, edito dalla Confindustria. Uno dei quotidiani criticati da Berlusconi
e' stato Il Sole.
Quando De Bortoli ha fatto segno che il presidente del Consiglio, rispondendo
ad una domanda, era andato oltre il tempo consentito, Berlusconi si e' alzato
in piedi, ha parlato, e a tratti ha urlato, per parecchi minuti senza interrompersi.
Quando ha finito, dalla folla qualcuno ha intonato un 'Silvio'.
"Abbiamo cercato di stabilire delle regole, e alcuni le hanno rispettate"
ha detto Andrea Pininfarina, vice presidente della Confindustria, alla fine
del convegno. I sostenitori di Berlusconi avevano avuto il permesso di entrare
nell'edificio prima che il premier parlasse - ha detto Pininfarina - negando
che vi sia una frattura all'interno dell'associazione degli imprenditori.
"Montezemolo parla a nome di tutti noi. Non tutti, nel pubblico presente,
erano imprenditori" ha detto.
La maggior parte degli applausi per Berlusconi proveniva dal fondo della
platea. Le persone sedute nelle prime file, riservate ai membri della Confindustria,
se ne stavano per la maggior parte sedute silenziosamente senza applaudire".
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www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=asRx_TgusnCI&refe...
Berlusconi Attacks Montezemolo, Newspapers, Urges Optimism
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi today attacked
Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, head of Italy's largest employers' group and
chairman of carmaker Fiat SpA, for sowing pessimism 22 days before national
elections.
Berlusconi, who said last night he wouldn't attend the assembly of employers'
lobby Confindustria because a back problem had put him out of action for
three days, showed up to defend his record after Montezemolo delivered a
speech criticizing the government's failure to boost growth and competitiveness
and cut red tape.
''Something isn't right if Confindustria attacks the government everyday,''
Berlusconi said as he stood, microphone in hand, and shouted to the audience
in Vicenza, Italy. ''Let's open our eyes. We can't be overcome by the pessimism
preached by the newspapers everyday to prevent my government from being re-
elected.''
Five years ago, just before the May 2001 vote that put Berlusconi in power
with the largest parliamentary majority since World War II, Confindustria
endorsed the premier who was promising lower taxes and economic prosperity.
Growth was zero two of the five years Berlusconi has been in charge, forcing
him to scale back promised tax cuts. Italian opposition leader Romano Prodi
spoke yesterday at the conference, promising to slash labor costs to boost
growth. Prodi's coalition leads Berlusconi's by about 4 percentage points,
according to polls.
Berlusconi received a loud applause upon his arrival, rivalling that received
by Prodi yesterday and contrasting with Montezemolo's criticism just a few
minutes earlier. Montezemolo and Berlusconi didn't shake hands before the
prime minister took the stage.
'Silvio'
Berlusconi then ignored the time limits requested by Ferruccio de Bortoli,
moderator of a question-and-answer session and editor-in-chief of Italian
financial newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore, which Confindustria publishes. One of
the newspapers Berlusconi criticized was Il Sole.
When de Bortoli indicated the prime minister had run out of time to respond
to a question, Berlusconi stood, spoke, and sometimes shouted for several
minutes without interruption. Some of the crowd chanted ''Silvio'' when he
finished.
''We tried to set some rules, and some people followed them,'' said Andrea
Pininfarina, vice president of Confindustria and chief executive officer
of carmaker and designer Pininfarina SpA, at the end of the conference. Berlusconi
supporters had been permitted into the building before the premier spoke,
Pininfarina said, denying a split within the employers' lobby. ''Montezemolo
speaks for all of us. Not everyone in the audience was a businessman,'' he
said.
'Zero Growth'
Most of the applause for Berlusconi came from the back of the audience. The
people in the front rows, which were reserved for members of Confindustria,
mostly sat silently without clapping.
Montezemolo refused to respond after Berlusconi walked off the stage and
out of the building, because he said he had ''too much respect for the office
of the prime minister.''
Montezemolo underlined ''the dramatic zero growth of these long years'' during
his speech. ''Competition and market forces are driving global growth at
a rate not seen in many years. Italy, with zero growth, is an exception.''
Montezemolo had also said during the speech that ''our criticisms aren't
the expression of an electoral preference.''
Prodi yesterday repeated his proposal to cut 5 percentage points in his first
year in office from what companies and employees contribute to pensions and
other mandated benefits. Montezemolo and Pininfarina, without making an endorsement,
expressed their appreciation for Prodi's promise to lower labor costs.
'Out of His Mind'
A businessman who votes for Prodi ''must be out of his mind or has skeletons
in his closet and wants to be shielded by the left's control over the magistrates,''
Berlusconi shouted. ''Be positive. Be optimistic. With pessimism you can't
accomplish anything.''
''I could hardly move last night, but I didn't want to miss the chance to
be with businessmen like myself, who are the motor of the economy,'' Berlusconi
said. ''After having heard the things that Prodi said last night, I felt
I had to come here to give my rebuttal.''
Prodi maintains the support of 52 percent of voters compared with 47.7 percent
for Berlusconi's House of Freedoms bloc, a survey for the newspaper la Repubblica
by polling company IPR Marketing showed. The poll of 1,000 Italians was conducted
on March 16. There was a 2.5 margin of error. Thirteen percent of those surveyed
were undecided.
Diego Della Valle, chairman of shoemaker Tod's SpA, has criticized Berlusconi's
government, saying he ''can't wait'' to see him lose the vote.
''Berlusconi needs a doctor and a long vacation,'' said Della Valle, who
is a member of Confindustria, after Berlusconi's speech today.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Steve Scherer in Vicenza at sscherer@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 18, 2006 11:20 EST