Berlusconi Accuses Monti of Caving In To German Pressure

Last Updated: 26, September 2012

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Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has hit out against his successor Mario Monti, criticising Monti of caving in to German pressure when he imposed austerity reforms.

Berlusconi, who turns 76 on Saturday, said in an interview with L’Huffington Post that Monti’s policies were “exclusively recessionary” and added that Germany should drop its austerity drive or leave the euro altogether.

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has hit out against his successor Mario Monti, criticising Monti of caving in to German pressure when he imposed austerity reforms.

Tapping on anti-Germany sentiment, the media mogul rallied against German Chancellor Angela Merkel for imposing its austerity philosophy on the rest of Europe. He said:

[quote] With all due respect to Monti, I would have been less obedient to Germany, a hegemonic state that dictated to other European countries the rules of discipline and austerity, with the pretence that austerity can reduce debts. [/quote]

“This is an illusion: public debt can be reduced by increasing gross domestic product,” Berlusconi insisted, arguing in favour of cutting taxes.

Berlusconi said that had he still been in office, he would not have been so “servile” to Merkel as his successor, Monti, the leader of a technocrat administration tasked with rescuing Italy from a Greek-like economic crash.

Since Monti took office last November, his government has pushed through sharp changes to the pension system, introduced a deeply unpopular private property tax and overhauled rigid labour laws, and is now focused on measures that can boost productivity and produce sustained economic growth.

Yet, the former economics professor and European commissioner remains Italy’s most popular politician, according to an SWG poll last week. Monti’s popular appeal rating rose 2 points to 42 percent in September, compared with 18 percent for Berlusconi, the poll found.

Monti has however said he will not run for the upcoming elections, preferring to return to academia when his term ends. He was quoted saying:

[quote] I think it is important that the whole political game resumes in Italy, hopefully with a higher degree of responsibility and maturity. [/quote]

Unless a snap election is called, the Italian general election must be held by April next year.

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