Talk:Silvio Berlusconi

This article had considerable disputes about whether it achieved NPOV. It has now been updated to try to solve those debates. If you feel that the article is biased or inaccurate, please add a section with specific problems to the end of this page where it can be discussed and a better form can be found.

Broken references

The references in the 'Bettino Craxi' section are totally broken. For example, the article text 'including the Prime Minister, immunity from prosecution while in office2.' links to the reference section, and apparently is intended to point at the reference 'Technically, Berlusconi has been sworn in four times because after a cabinet reshuffle, as happened with Berlusconi in 2005, the new ministry is sworn in and subjected to a vote of confidence.'

Which is completely wrong, as it says nothing at all about immunity. This is not surprising, because when I look at the source for this section, I see wikimarkup which looks like "^{[[#References|2]]}". Needless to say, this is the stupidest and most broken reference style I have ever seen, and the other examples in that section are just as painful to look at. I couldn't bring myself to see whether the rest of the article is infected with this stuff. --Gwern (contribs) 15:18 23 July 2008 (GMT)

But WTF???? Are you trying to write a biography instead of a simple and concise biographical article??? That's longest than Nixon's one!!!

Article split

I think it's high time the controversies of Berlusconi get their own article. Therequiembellishere (talk) 04:40, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

I tested something in my sandbox: such article would become a 91k article with 157 notes, while this one is currently @141k with 194 notes. Splitting only Berlusconi jokes will generate a new 24k article with 42 notes. Any idea? --Juanm (talk) 21:04, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

Did you consider the legal issues as controversies? Because that's the idea I had. I hadn't realized that his political career had recently been split too, and scrolling through the page, I can see that this would barely leave an article. However, as it stands, almost the entire article is legal and other controversies, and this needs to be amended somehow. I think if some more of the major content from his political career article was reflected here and do the same with the major legal/other controveries, we can still split the article and make the main one more concise (and less potentially libellous). Therequiembellishere (talk) 21:29, 21 September 2011 (UTC)

Well ... I was referring to the whole section 6 (Silvio_Berlusconi#Controversies). The legal issues already have their own main article (Trials_involving_Silvio_Berlusconi). Maybe we can split such section in more than an article. --Juanm (talk) 06:32, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

Either way, go for it. This article needs to be a more balanced overview than it is now. Rich Farmbrough, 15:53, 6 October 2011 (UTC).

Done. —James ^{(Talk • Contribs)} • 8:53pm • 10:53, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

• Thanks for helping to clean up. The article's flow looks much better now. - Mailer Diablo 16:39, 18 November 2011 (UTC)

Successor

The news reports have said only that Mario Monti is expected to be confirmed as his successor. Please don't jump the gun on this.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 21:09, 12 November 2011 (UTC)

And this point still holds even though Monti has now been officially charged to form a government. Until Monti 1) succeeds in doing that and 2) is sworn in, he is not officially PM. Or at least that's my understanding. Monti is now "PM designate", as the BBC says, but in Italian politics figures asked to form a new government don't always succeed in doing so, in which case the President calls on someone else to try. That's the official constitutional procedure. In the current situation, it seems highly unlikely that Monti will not succeed in gaining parliamentary support to form a new government. But that's another question—we're not there yet.--MistyMorn (talk) 19:23, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Vacant office?

My understanding is that, in line with the Italian Constitution, President Napolitano has formally requested Berlusconi and his ministers to remain in office to cover day-to-day responsibilities until such time as a new government can be formed and instated. Hope this helps--MistyMorn (talk) 16:05, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Indeed. They call this a caretaker government. In Belgium, for instance, a similar situation is going on for more than a year. Ivo von Rosenqvist (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 16:32, 13 November 2011 (UTC).

This was the official statement from the President's office (12 November 21.41): ...ha invitato il governo dimissionario di rimanere in carica per il disbrigo degli affari correnti.--MistyMorn (talk) 16:58, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

It's also spelt out in English in this BBC article: Mr Napolitano's spokesman Donato Marra said the president had invited the outgoing government to "remain in power in order to finish current business. So, for the time being, Berlusconi remains PM.--MistyMorn (talk) 17:37, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Sorry but Silvio Berlusconi's Cabinet is still in office to deal ordinary affairs. See official statement of Quirinale: http://www.quirinale.it/elementi/Continua.aspx?tipo=Comunicato&key=12558 --PaoVac (talk) 18:25, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Yes, and we should finally be able to make this edit in the coming days. Until then...--MistyMorn (talk) 18:36, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

@Malarious: Unfortunately, B will officially remain PM until the moment the incoming government is sworn in. That's the protocol, not an opinion.--MistyMorn (talk) 19:13, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. Therequiembellishere (talk) 22:11, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. I'm trying to confirm the exact moment a PM officially enters office.--MistyMorn (talk) 22:20, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Oddly enough, I don't see anything in this USAToday story that suggests he's still hanging around.[1] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:02, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

@MistyMorn: In Italy that happens just after the ministers are sworn in.--78.12.168.206 (talk) 19:47, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Il Cavaliere (dimezzato)

Just to clarify why I reverted a recent edit: Although he may not be very widely known as Il Cavaliere in English-language media, he most certainly is in Italy [2], where he is almost universally referred to in the press by this nickname. And Il Cavaliere has been picked up by, for example, The Economist. MistyMorn (talk) 21:13, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Support - very common in Italian media to refer to him as such, in fact I have read shorter articles on major news sites that only refer to him as such without giving his name.Connolly15 (talk) 16:05, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Indeed. And like much else here, the information appears only in the lede. If Cav makes it into the main body of the article, I think it would be appropriate to mention that the title was conferred by Giovanni Leone. MistyMorn (talk) 20:17, 13 February 2012 (UTC)