This time, it was all meant to be different. Silvio Berlusconi exuded sober responsibility in his successful bid to be re-elected prime minister in April. Unsurprisingly, say his apologists. His government from 2001 to 2006 was a tale of missed opportunities to modernise Italy and leave his mark on history that he now regrets.rnThere were other reasons for hoping that he would govern the country for its own good, rather than for his. He was known to aspire to the presidency and so needed to acquire an aura of statesmanship. One reason his previous government failed was resistance to liberal reform by the Union of Christian and Centre Democrats, which is no longer part of his coalition. And he seemed to have solved his personal difficulties with a string of adper-sonam laws that secured his legal position and protected his business empire.
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