Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has picked a good time to push through laws that grant him freedom from prosecution

LONDON - Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has picked a good time to push through laws that grant him freedom from prosecution. With Italy hurtling toward a recession, consumers might find it hard to get worked up about corruption scandals that already seem like ancient history.

"As long as Italy is struggling economically, people are more bothered about someone who seems to have the answers than the rule of law," said Jonathan Hopkin, of the London School of Economics. Although Italy has not exactly prospered under Berlusconi's premiership in the past, the suspiciously taut-skinned politician is adept at knowing what Italians want to hear.

So far, that seems to involve declaring that the waste crisis in Naples is over--something his predecessor Romano Prodi was unable to do--and that illegal immigrants are an "army of evil" that deserve a harsher crackdown than before. The Italian parliament has approved a whole package of law-and-order measures, including tighter policing, more use of the army against crime and harsher sentences for illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them.

But law and order is not something that will apply to Berlusconi, now that he has also pushed through legislation protecting the prime minister, the president and two other top-elected officials from prosecution. Although numerous allegations are swirling around Berlusconi, including a long-running corruption trial involving Britain's Olympic minister Tessa Jowell, only a final knockdown from the constitutional court could stop Berlusconi's immunity law from winning out.

Given Italy's dire economic situation, however, it will be hard to galvanize popular resistance to Berlusconi so soon after his re-election. Italy's consumer confidence index fell to its lowest level in 15 years earlier this week, and it is the slowest-growing country in the euro zone. It may not be so surprising to see the alleged fraud and corruption around Berlusconi taking a back seat for a few years, as worries closer to home loom large.

Posted in: Italy