For the last few weeks, regional elections of March 28 and 29 have been the central point of Italy’s politics. The ruling party led by Premier Silvio Berlusconi seems more interested than ever, since it came to power, by a local confrontation that might bring it in control of 13 important regions, such as Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Veneto, Campania, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Basilicata, Calabria and Puglia.

Maybe this explains the row sparked by the failure to register in due time the electoral lists of PDL in Lazio and Lombardy. As it is known, in Lombardy, the list topped by Roberto Formigoni has been invalidated because it lacked all the required valid signatures. In Lazio, on the other hand, the list led by Renata Polverini reached the Electoral Bureau 45 minutes after the deadline. After various statements, including one by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, the government passed late last week a decree aimed at providing magistrates with... a “correct” model of interpreting the law. Following this decision, the Milan Tribunal validated the list of PDL. But things were different in Rome, where the local Tribunal dismissed the list submitted by the ruling party for the province of Rome. In other words, the scenario is still far from conclusion.

Set aside open fight and accusations traded by PDL and opposition parties, reflected each day by the media, political analysts warn over the changes and struggle present in the Italian society, but also inside the political parties from both power and opposition. One of the widespread problems faced by the Italian society is corruption, which increased by 229 pc in 2009 compared to the previous year and defied any attempt to curb it, according to well-known politologist Ernesto Galli della Loggia. Perhaps this was best reflected by the failure in keeping it under control by changing the electoral system, the way privatizations are made, the laws on holding public tenders and financing the parties by other means than direct ones. Even the example of the “Clean Hands” campaign 18 years ago was far from bringing the radical change expected by its artisans.

Everything was completely pointless - a fact revealed by many observers, including the well-known commenter Giorgio Bocca, who earlier this month, published his column in the ‘Panorama’ weekly under the title of - no more, no less than - “The widespread theft.” I found very suggestive the parallel drawn by Bocca between the politicians who led Italy during the first three to four decades of the Republic, or even those who were in opposition, who saw politics or the administration of one town or another as something that implied the utmost moral behaviour, and today’s politicians, who consider their own interests as top priority, only seeking to amass wealth for them and their small entourage. Judging by the corruption cases unveiled each day by the Italian press - with the examples given and commented by “Protezione Civile Spa.” being just the latest in a long line - one cannot stop from thinking at the similar cases presented by the Romanian media and wondering how similar things are in both countries.

Things look equally bleak in politics. If we consider the ‘Partito della Liberta’ (Freedom Party / PDL) created last year by Silvio Berlusconi through a merger with the party led by the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini (the former fascist party, later turned right-wing), we must notice the more or less obvious dissensions between the two leaders, as well as Fini’s aspiration to be the successor of Berlusconi. One might not say that ‘Il Cavaliere’ begins to lack the resources for preserving the unity of the party, as Piero Ignazi writes in ‘L’Espresso.’ However, the general state of mind today is lightyears away from the triumph march of last year, writes the same author. Many observers go beyond the decline in opinion polls and also mention the identity crisis experienced by Berlusconi’s party nowadays.

A journalist very close to the premier, Bruno Vespa, the host of the famous TV show ‘Porta a Porta,’ last week wrote that the leader of PDL needs a new contract with the Italians, to reinforce the ties with the electorate prior to the March 28 ballot. According to Vespa, there is only one way Silvio Berlusconi can push away the heavy clouds that cover the government’s horizon now and, especially, inspire fresh enthusiasm to those zones of the electorate that might stay at home on March 28: issuing a new and credible “contract with the Italians,” which will set a realistic calendar of reforms, in line with the people’s priorities. Vespa also gives examples of such matters at hand, which relate to the tax regime, the research sector and the reform of justice and state. According to the well-known journalist, the reform of justice is not only aimed at bringing part of the judiciary power within constitutional limits (Berlusconi’s problems with the justice are certainly known by everybody). This should also provide citizens and the society with access to fast and effective legal procedures, which will prevent lawsuits from taking years. In terms of state reform, which is no psychological priority for the population, Vespa considers it should still make it certain that in 2013 Italians will vote for a single House of Parliament and a reduced number of legislators.

No doubt, it is hard now to foresee what 2013’s elections will bring, as even the result of the elections at the end of this month seems uncertain, though the scales are tipped in favour of PDL. Coming to the opposition, the numerous controversies within its ranks significantly lower its chances to become a valid alternative to the acting power. I cannot end this overview without mentioning the opinion voiced by Confindustria President Emma Marcegaglia in a TV show last Wednesday on TV2. ‘Italy’s most powerful woman,’ as she is described by the media, invited the Italian political class to stop public disputes and start talking about crisis, economic downturn and the problems encountered by the real Italy, which have been largely ignored until now.