Italians feel time has come for ‘the Knight’ to saddle up and ride out of politics

THERE was precious little sympathy for outgoing Italian prime minister Silvio Berulsconi among the crowds enjoying the autumn sunshine outside his official residence in Rome yesterday.

Most Italians blame their beleaguered leader for making Italy a joke in the eyes of the world and for bringing their country to the brink of financial ruin.

Retired museum official Edmondo Boni, 61, visting Palazzo Chigi from Tarquinia, outside Rome, said: “We have had enough of all this. Berlusconi and his lot have been at it for 17 years and they have massacred us.

“We are the ones who are paying. He has done nothing for Italians. We are ashamed to have such a prime minister – it is an embarrassment.”

The feeling among ordinary Italians is that Il Cavaliere – the Knight – spent his time in office clowning around and engaging in a series of cringeworthy sex scandals, all the while appearing to ignore the economic meltdown afflicting his country.

His departure comes as Italians face cuts to salaries and pensions, a higher retirement age and huge reductions in the health and education budgets.

Austerity measures worth ¤56 million have turned the “dolce vita” bitter. Even the prospect of a fresh start under a new leader, expected to be Mario Monti, is greeted with no more than cautious optimism.

Boni’s wife, Patrizia Cima, 59, who works for the government, said: “This is all a game for politicians. The barber in parliament earns more than ¤100,000 a year – that’s almost as much as your Prime Minister David Cameron earns.”

Cinema worker Roberto Portuguese, 62, from Rome said: “I am ready to make sacrifices but the sacrifices have to be made from up high first. Do you know that MPs have a three-course dinner served by white-gloved waiters for ¤5 when it would cost us 10 times that? They have so many perks.”

But Anna Cau, 55, a tour guide from Rome, disagreed, arguing that the world financial markets, and not the prime minister, were responsible for the problems facing Italy.

“This is all very, very bad. But I don’t think things will be solved with Berlusconi going,” she said. “Personally I believe that what we have seen here has all been orchestrated from outside Italy.

“I’m worried that we may face another situation that we had a few years ago when a left wing government announced overnight it was going to take a fraction of every Italian’s bank account to help cover costs.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened again. They came like thieves in the night and helped themselves.”