Italy's weak left, hobbled by scandal

Italy's already-weak political opposition to conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi suffered yet another blow yesterday when the largest city under its control, Naples, was hit by a corruption scandal.

Police placed city councillors working with Naples' centre-left Mayor Rosa Iervolino under house arrest for what prosecutors called a "systematic looting of public resources".

It was the latest scandal to befall the Democratic Party, which is wobbling under the weight of graft probes across the country, rather than being able to seize on the tough economic times to challenge the government.

"It's pretty serious for the Democratic Party," said political analyst Franco Pavoncello, adding the PD appeared to be "melting" under the glare of the scandals.

Voters turned against the PD this week in an election to replace the centre-left governor of the central Abruzzo region, who was arrested over a suspected health care kickback scheme.

The PD mayor of Pescara, also in Abruzzo, was arrested on Monday in a graft probe along with senior party officials.

Mr Berlusconi's centre right, which won the Abruzzo election, is gleefully calling this a new Tangentopoli - a reference to the corruption scandals that led to a purge of Italian politics in the Mani Pulite (Clean Hands) trials of the early 1990s.

"I don't know if you can talk about Tangentopoli. Certainly it's very troubling," acknowledged senior PD lawmaker and former Chamber of Deputies speaker Luciano Violante. "I think that Friday's party leadership meeting must deal with this issue."

The scandals are giving Mr Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister who has long battled graft cases during his political career, a near free hand to pursue his reform agenda in Parliament - including overhauling the justice system.

But the biggest gainer may be Mr Berlusconi's arch-enemy Antonio Di Pietro, the "Mani Pulite" prosecutor with his own political party, which has drawn disillusioned PD supporters in Abruzzo and elsewhere.

The arrests in Naples, which suffered through a trash crisis earlier this year that saw rubbish pile up in city streets, involved multi-million euro public contracts.

Ms Iervolino - who like many in the PD was long used to claiming the moral high ground in Italian politics - was not accused of a crime but left open the possibility she may resign. "What I've always said, I'll say again: my hands are clean and spotless and no claims of a criminal nature have been directed at me," she was quoted saying in Italian media.

One centre-right politician allied with Mr Berlusconi, Alessandra Mussolini, called for new elections.

"Naples' city council must be dissolved... The city needs a new start, above all credible leaders," said Ms Mussolini, granddaughter of wartime dictator Benito Mussolini. The graft probes staining the PD's reputation extend well beyond Naples and Abruzzo region.

Florence's mayor recently chained himself to a post outside a Rome newspaper's office to try to clear his name.

A PD lawmaker in parliament could be placed under house arrest over oil drilling contracts if a special parliamentary committee approves a request from prosecutors later this week.