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| Silvio Berlusconi promises tax refund in mailshot | Silvio Berlusconi promises tax refund in mailshot |
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| Italian voters on Wednesday began receiving the first letters in a gigantic mail shot ordered by Silvio Berlusconi, promising to pay them back billions of euros in tax. | Italian voters on Wednesday began receiving the first letters in a gigantic mail shot ordered by Silvio Berlusconi, promising to pay them back billions of euros in tax. |
| The former prime minister's initiative, which drew accusations of foul play and even criminal wrongdoing from adversaries, appeared to be a final attempt to win over undecided voters before Italy's general election on Sunday and Monday. The last opinion polls to be published before a ban took effect on 9 February showed the media tycoon-turned-conservative leader trailing the centre-left by between five and six percentage points. | The former prime minister's initiative, which drew accusations of foul play and even criminal wrongdoing from adversaries, appeared to be a final attempt to win over undecided voters before Italy's general election on Sunday and Monday. The last opinion polls to be published before a ban took effect on 9 February showed the media tycoon-turned-conservative leader trailing the centre-left by between five and six percentage points. |
| Berlusconi has based his campaign around a pledge to abolish a widely resented tax, the Imposta municipale unica (IMU) and refund the amount levied on principal residences. The letter, designed to resemble an official communication comes marked "Important notice". | Berlusconi has based his campaign around a pledge to abolish a widely resented tax, the Imposta municipale unica (IMU) and refund the amount levied on principal residences. The letter, designed to resemble an official communication comes marked "Important notice". |
| The letter inside begins "Dear Luigi", or "Maria", or whatever is the first name of the householder, and is signed "with very best wishes, Silvio Berlusconi". It pledges the ex-prime minister to use his first cabinet meeting to cancel the tax and arrange for the reimbursement "to your current account or, especially for pensioners and others who prefer this method, in cash at the Post Office counter". | The letter inside begins "Dear Luigi", or "Maria", or whatever is the first name of the householder, and is signed "with very best wishes, Silvio Berlusconi". It pledges the ex-prime minister to use his first cabinet meeting to cancel the tax and arrange for the reimbursement "to your current account or, especially for pensioners and others who prefer this method, in cash at the Post Office counter". |
| It is not the first time Berlusconi – one of Italy's richest citizens – has deployed the vast financial resources at his disposal to make direct contact with the electorate. In 2001, he sent every household a copy of Una storia italiana (An Italian Story), a book about himself and his achievements, generously illustrated with photographs taken of his public and private life. | It is not the first time Berlusconi – one of Italy's richest citizens – has deployed the vast financial resources at his disposal to make direct contact with the electorate. In 2001, he sent every household a copy of Una storia italiana (An Italian Story), a book about himself and his achievements, generously illustrated with photographs taken of his public and private life. |
| Berlusconi's main rival for the leadership of the next government, Pier Luigi Bersani of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said: "This is a form of campaigning I cannot stomach." He said the former prime minister was a "trickster". | Berlusconi's main rival for the leadership of the next government, Pier Luigi Bersani of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said: "This is a form of campaigning I cannot stomach." He said the former prime minister was a "trickster". |
| The head of a small alliance of the radical left, Antonio Ingroia, went one better. Ingroia, a former anti-mafia prosecutor, said he would report Berlusconi to the police for alleged electoral fraud and vote-buying. | The head of a small alliance of the radical left, Antonio Ingroia, went one better. Ingroia, a former anti-mafia prosecutor, said he would report Berlusconi to the police for alleged electoral fraud and vote-buying. |
| Unpublished surveys conducted since the ban on the release of polls came into force suggest the alliance between Berlusconi's Freedom People (PdL) movement and the more rightwing Northern League is no longer closing the gap with the centre-left. They also point to a surge in backing for the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), fronted by an ex-comedian, Beppe Grillo. | Unpublished surveys conducted since the ban on the release of polls came into force suggest the alliance between Berlusconi's Freedom People (PdL) movement and the more rightwing Northern League is no longer closing the gap with the centre-left. They also point to a surge in backing for the populist Five Star Movement (M5S), fronted by an ex-comedian, Beppe Grillo. |
| Voters of all ages have been packing into squares up and down the country to hear Grillo call for the destruction of the current party system and its replacement by a form of web-based direct democracy. On Tuesday, he attracted an estimated 35,000 to a rally in Milan. | Voters of all ages have been packing into squares up and down the country to hear Grillo call for the destruction of the current party system and its replacement by a form of web-based direct democracy. On Tuesday, he attracted an estimated 35,000 to a rally in Milan. |
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