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Rating for Berlusconi Steady in Italy
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for the Italian prime minister remains steady as the year draws to a close, according to a poll by IPR Marketing published in La Repubblica. 58 per cent of respondents have confidence in Silvio Berlusconi.
Italian voters renewed the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in April. Final results gave Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition—encompassing the Italian People of Freedom Party (PdL), the Northern League (LN), and the Movement for Autonomy (MPA)—344 seats in the lower house, and 174 seats in the upper house. The victory put an end to the government of the centre-left Union (Unione), headed by Romano Prodi.
Berlusconi—Italy’s richest man—was sworn in as the country’s new head of government in May. He had previously served as prime minister from May 1994 to January 1995, and from June 2001 to May 2006.
On Dec. 20, Berlusconi said he expected to keep close ties with the United States after the inauguration of U.S. president-elect Barack Obama, declaring, "We will keep the same relationship with the next administration that we had with the last. Nothing makes me think I won’t have the same positive relations with Obama that I had with Bill Clinton."
Polling Data
Do you have confidence in Silvio Berlusconi?
|
Dec. 2008 |
Nov. 2008 |
Oct. 2008 |
|
|
Yes |
58% |
58% |
62% |
|
No |
40% |
40% |
36% |
Source: IPR Marketing / La Repubblica
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 Italian adults, conducted from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15, 2008. No margin of error was provided.