Politics
Italy: Poll shows fall in PM's popularity
Rome, 16 Sept. (AKI) - The popularity of Italy's scandal-prone prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has fallen to its lowest point since he was re-elected for the third time in April 2008, according to a new survey released on Wednesday. According to the Naples-based market research company, IPR, Berlusconi's approval rating fell to 47 percent in September, a fall of two percentage points since July.
The latest poll, published in the Italian daily, La Repubblica, showed the prime minister's popularity has fallen from a high of 62 percent since last October.
The popularity of the government has been stable at 44 percent since July, however, it has shown a 10 percent decrease since last October when it was at 54 percent.
The survey said 50 percent no longer had confidence in Berlusconi as premier, a 12 point increase since October.
The poll was carried out between 11 and 13 September 2009 and included 1,000 people, all Italian citizens resident in Italy.
In addition, Berlusconi was facing fresh criticism on Wednesday for rescheduling national television programming to accommodate his appearance on a talkshow to give an account of reconstruction efforts in the quake-struck zone of Abruzzo.
During the popular television talkshow Porta a Porta on Tuesday, the premier claimed his approval rate reached 68.4 percent.
During the show he also attacked what he called "the Communist and Catho-Communist minority," as well as the press and Italian state broadcaster RAI.
"There are too many tricksters in the newspapers and on TV," said the premier, adding that Italian state broadcaster RAI "is the only public TV in the world that attacks only one political side, the majority."
Controversy surrounded Berlusconi's appearance on the TV show, because its schedule was moved in a bid to give the premier a larger audience.
However, figures published on Wednesday showed that an Italian fictional TV series, Honour and Respect, beat Berlusconi with over 5.7 million TV viewers or 22.6 percent, compared with a little over 3.2 million TV viewers or 13.4 percent who tuned in to watch Berlusconi's appearance on Porta a Porta.
Berlusconi's appearance in the popular TV show was primarily to show about the consignment of 100 temporary homes to victims of the devastating earthquake in L'Aquila.
The latest poll, published in the Italian daily, La Repubblica, showed the prime minister's popularity has fallen from a high of 62 percent since last October.
The popularity of the government has been stable at 44 percent since July, however, it has shown a 10 percent decrease since last October when it was at 54 percent.
The survey said 50 percent no longer had confidence in Berlusconi as premier, a 12 point increase since October.
The poll was carried out between 11 and 13 September 2009 and included 1,000 people, all Italian citizens resident in Italy.
In addition, Berlusconi was facing fresh criticism on Wednesday for rescheduling national television programming to accommodate his appearance on a talkshow to give an account of reconstruction efforts in the quake-struck zone of Abruzzo.
During the popular television talkshow Porta a Porta on Tuesday, the premier claimed his approval rate reached 68.4 percent.
During the show he also attacked what he called "the Communist and Catho-Communist minority," as well as the press and Italian state broadcaster RAI.
"There are too many tricksters in the newspapers and on TV," said the premier, adding that Italian state broadcaster RAI "is the only public TV in the world that attacks only one political side, the majority."
Controversy surrounded Berlusconi's appearance on the TV show, because its schedule was moved in a bid to give the premier a larger audience.
However, figures published on Wednesday showed that an Italian fictional TV series, Honour and Respect, beat Berlusconi with over 5.7 million TV viewers or 22.6 percent, compared with a little over 3.2 million TV viewers or 13.4 percent who tuned in to watch Berlusconi's appearance on Porta a Porta.
Berlusconi's appearance in the popular TV show was primarily to show about the consignment of 100 temporary homes to victims of the devastating earthquake in L'Aquila.
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