Italy is suffering from too much austerity and an
overvalued euro currency, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
charged on Thursday, returning to a more aggressive political
discourse after months of silence.
Speaking at the launch of a book in which one of his former
ministers attacks the economic policies of the sitting government led
by Mario Monti, Berlusconi said the euro was "a great con" and that
the exchange rate under which the lira was abandoned "was suicide."
He said there were two ways to lift out of trouble indebted
eurozone members such as Italy: by giving the European Central Bank
the power to lend them unlimited amounts of money or by letting
Germany leave the euro.
"That would not be a tragedy," he opined.
Berlusconi also railed against Italy's tax-collecting agency
Equitalia, accusing it of "extortion," and claimed the merit for
blocking, when he was in office, a European Union deal on a financial
transaction tax supported by France and Germany.
The conservative media mogul - who stayed out of the public
limelight for three months during the summer - has still not said
whether he intends to run as a prime ministerial candidate in
elections due by next April.
Several commentators fear that neither Berlusconi's People of
Liberty (PDL) party nor the centre-left Democratic Party (PD),
currently ahead in the polls, will manage to lead a coalition into
victory.
They suggested reappointing Monti as a solution to the deadlock
that would arise under that scenario.
"I hope there will be a clear result with a clear possibility for
whatever majority to be formed and for a government led by a
political leader," Monti said Thursday while speaking at a Council on
Foreign Relations event in New York.
However, hinting at the possible continuation of his political
career, he added that, if there were "circumstances" under which
others thought he "could serve helpfully after that period of
elections, I will be there, I will consider, I cannot preclude
anything."
PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani suggested Monti could be given
another job. The premier has been touted as a successor to Italian
President Giorgio Napolitano when his term ends in 2013, or as a
candidate for European Union top jobs due to be allocated in 2014.
"I think that Italy cannot do without a personality such as Monti.
But of course, before deciding 'what to do' with Monti, we also need
to ask him," Bersani told dpa in an exclusive interview.
