Alfano pretty much anointed as Berlusconi's successor.

[Keystone Phil]

He's now the Secretary of the PdL (which is a newly created position). Score one for Sicilia. 

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/abb52f28-a3e9-11e0-9f5c-00144feabdc0.html

[MaxQue]

How much he paid Berlusconi to get that office?

[Keystone Phil]

How much he paid Berlusconi to get that office?

I think him being the Minister of Justice is enough of a payback for Silvio. 

[Antonio the Sixth]

People with his levels of popularity usually don't have "successors"...

[Keystone Phil]

People with his levels of popularity usually don't have "successors"...

Successor as the real party leader.    I wouldn't get too cocky about winning the next elections either.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Berlusca said he won't run again in 2013. Not a surprise per se, but the fact he clearly said it surprised me a bit.

Still, I hope he won't get the satisfaction to stay until the end of the legislature.

[TheGlobalizer]

Berlusca said he won't run again in 2013. Not a surprise per se, but the fact he clearly said it surprised me a bit.

Still, I hope he won't get the satisfaction to stay until the end of the legislature.

Glad to hear it.  He's only hurting the political right in Italy at this point.

[Keystone Phil]

Berlusca said he won't run again in 2013. Not a surprise per se, but the fact he clearly said it surprised me a bit.

Still, I hope he won't get the satisfaction to stay until the end of the legislature.

My Dad mentioned this to me today. Why is this news again? Didn't he make this announcement a month ago?

Glad to hear it.  He's only hurting the political right in Italy at this point.

Exactly. I just hope Alfano or whoever actually ends up being the successor can embrace a reform message and unite with the reformers (FLI) before the election. Since the successor will have Silvio's blessing, I won't hold my breath.

[Keystone Phil]

Looks like I found an answer to my question in my last post: La Repubblica asked him again if he'd run for re-election and he said "absolutely not." Let's see if he keeps his word.

I'm thrilled that he had the guts to say that Bossi will be replaced sooner or later, too. Unfortunately, that dope will be replaced by his son.

[Keystone Phil]

Antonio (or anyone else that might be able to help), maybe you can answer a few questions:

1) If Alfano wins, would he be the first ever Sicilian Prime Minister of Italy?

2) When was the last time a southerner (someone originally from south of Rome) was Prime Minister?

3) When was the last time a southerner led one of the two major coalitions in an election?

4) I read that Formigoni (the Governor of Lombardy) said that there ought to be a primary to decide who leads the Right in 2013. Being a fan of his on Facebook, I get his daily updates on a wide variety of issues. He seems like he would like to be a candidate. Is he aiming to run if there is a primary? How likely is it that he'd run? Would he have a decent shot at winning despite not having Berlusconi's blessing (though he's a known Berlusconi ally and friend)?

5) With Pisapia's and De Magistris' success, is Vendola a credible candidate in the Left's primary or is Bersani an overwhelming favorite?

[Edu]

Found that Mario Scelba (1954-1955) was born in Caltagirano in Sicily (a place i visited in January by the way ), so there is at least 1 sicilian PM.

From a quick Wikipedia search I also found that Ciriaco de Mita (1988-1989) was born in Nusco in Campania so that was the last time someone from the south of Italy was PM.

[Keystone Phil]

Found that Mario Scelba (1954-1955) was born in Caltagirano in Sicily (a place i visited in January by the way ), so there is at least 1 sicilian PM.

From a quick Wikipedia search I also found that Ciriaco de Mita (1988-1989) was born in Nusco in Campania so that was the last time someone from the south of Italy was PM.

Grazie! 

Funny enough, both individuals are from towns that are roughly an hour from my ancestral hometowns.

[Edu]

Funny enough, both individuals are from towns that are roughly an hour from my ancestral hometowns.

Naples and Catania or something like that?

[MaxQue]

According to Wikipedia:

Antonio (or anyone else that might be able to help), maybe you can answer a few questions:

1) If Alfano wins, would he be the first ever Sicilian Prime Minister of Italy?

No. He would be the 5th.
Francesco Crispi was Prime Minister from 1887 to 1891 and from 1893 to 1896. From Albanian ancestry, from Ribera, in south-west Sicily. Was on the left.
Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì, was Prime Minister from 1891 to 1892 and from 1896 to 1898. He was from an aristocratic family of Palermo. Was on the right.
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando was Prime Minister from 1917 to 1919. From Palermo. Was openly supporting mafia and supported Mussolini, too. Was on the right.
Mario Scelba was Prime Minister in 1954-1955 and he was Sicilian. From DC. From Caltagirone, in southern Sicily.

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1988-1989, Ciriaco de Mita, from Nusco, Avellino, Campania. His party was DC. He is currently a European deputy, for UdC.

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Same than 2.

[Antonio the Sixth]

4) I read that Formigoni (the Governor of Lombardy) said that there ought to be a primary to decide who leads the Right in 2013. Being a fan of his on Facebook, I get his daily updates on a wide variety of issues. He seems like he would like to be a candidate. Is he aiming to run if there is a primary? How likely is it that he'd run? Would he have a decent shot at winning despite not having Berlusconi's blessing (though he's a known Berlusconi ally and friend)?

I think you know the right's internal politics better than me, so I can't help you with that. I find it plausible that, Berlusconi gone, all his former lieutenants will try to do their best in order to succeed him. On the other hand, I don't really know if there will be primaries in a party such as PdL. There are a lot of talks today about creating an "internal democracy" inside the party (which is an interesting way to admit that there was absolutely no democracy under Berlusconi) but after all, whoever leads the PdL won't have interests in internal democracy. It certainly opens an interesting phase for the PdL, though.

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I've heard that even before the local elections, some polls already showed Vendola ahead in a hypothetical primary (this despite his own party remains around 7%). I don't know how trustworthy these polls were, but Pisapia's win certainly only boosted Vendola's support. As for De Magistris, it shouldn't really help him as he was IdV's candidale and SEL itself had endorsed Morcone (the PD's candidate). Anyways, Vendola is probably popular enough to be a strong contender against Bersani, and that's why the PD fears him so much. I don't know how things stand as of today, but I've heard about talks in the PD about not organizing primaries (with the pretext that primaries make you lose, which of course was proven wrong with Pisapia). If the PD goes on and nominates Bersani without primaries, methinks it could suffer a (deserved) backlash.

[Keystone Phil]

Funny enough, both individuals are from towns that are roughly an hour from my ancestral hometowns.

Naples and Catania or something like that?

Carife (small town outside of Naples) and Enna 

[Keystone Phil]

As for De Magistris, it shouldn't really help him as he was IdV's candidale and SEL itself had endorsed Morcone (the PD's candidate).

I knew he was with IdV but wasn't sure if SEL endorsed him before the runoff or if they were with Morcone. Thanks!

According to Wikipedia:

No. He would be the 5th.

I was more interested in whether or not there has been one since the beginning of the Republic.    Either way, he still wouldn't be the first. Thanks.

[Edu]

Funny enough, both individuals are from towns that are roughly an hour from my ancestral hometowns.

Naples and Catania or something like that?

Carife (small town outside of Naples) and Enna 

My mother's side of the family is from Avellino (which i guess makes me a relative of Tony Soprano ) and my father's side of the family is from Gangi in Sicily

Avellino is closer to Carife than Naples and Gangi is about half an hour from Enna.

It's always nice to find people that also come from that part of the world. Southern Italy rocks despite what the naysayers might say

[Keystone Phil]

My mother's side of the family is from Avellino (which i guess makes me a relative of Tony Soprano ) and my father's side of the family is from Gangi in Sicily

Yeah but are they really from the city of Avellino? They might just be from the province of Avellino (like my family). 

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Exactly proving my above point. It's typical for many immigrants and, from my understanding, actual Italians that live somewhat near Naples to identify as Napolitan even if they are closer to another reasonably sized city. That's the case for my family.

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Absolutely. Naples is awesome, too, and I know even fewer people will agree with me on that. Aside from my day trips elsewhere, I spent my 2009 and 2010 trips to Italy in Naples and never experienced the problems that people mention. I was also lucky to be there when there wasn't a garbage crisis.