Buona Fortuna Romano
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/world/europe/22italy.html?em&ex=1172379600&en=9028aad4f6ad8462&ei=5087%0A
I found this article on the New York Times Web site. The Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, resigned Wednesday after only nine months in office. The traditionally unstable government in Italy finally broke after a Senate vote on continuing to supply troops to Afghanistan and the expansion of an American military base in Northern Italy. Prodi supported aiding the U.S. in their military efforts, but the vote was defeated when two of his own party members abstained, essentially pulling the rug out from under his political standing. Italy’s foreign minister, Massimo D’Alema, gave a stirring speech in support of the Prime Minister’s stance saying that Italy’s support of the war in Afghanistan is justified because military action in Afghanistan was U.N. approved. It was all in vain. The vote was lost, mostly due to the two abstentions which set the vote at 158, just shy of the 160 needed to support Prodi’s plan. Just moments after the vote was solidified Italian senators shouted, “Resign! Resign!� in the direction of D’Alema. Unlike the Prime Minister, D’Alema’s resignation is not confirmed, but the Italian government is in desperate need of re-structuring. President Giorgio Napolitano will consult with Italian political parties to try and form a new government and make plans for another election. One possibility for Prodi’s replacement is Silvio Berlusconi, a former prime minister who Prodi defeated in the last election. Berlusconi is the only prime minister to date that has actually served out a full 5-year term.
A challenge the reporter faced when writing this article was sorting through all the different Italian political parties and their views. Prodi alone resided over a coalition of nine different political parties. The Italian governmental structure is vastly complicated with viable parties ranging from communists to extreme right-wing Catholics, so the reported did a good job of cutting it down to the relevant topics and not delving too deep into the government’s intricacies.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/23/italy.reut/index.html
I read another article on CNN.com that is more recent. Prodi is now seeking to stay in power, but will need the full support of his parties. It is up to President Napolitano to determine if Prodi can hold the government together. This article gives a good update on the story. They gave the crucial facts of Wednesday’s story on why Prodi resigned, but mainly stuck to the breaking news.
I think this story is a good example of how supporting or not-supporting the United States plays such a huge role in other nation’s political systems. In a way, some yahoo from Texas just single-handedly destroyed Italy’s entire governmental structure. I honestly feel bad for poor Prodi.