Italians march to demand Berlusconi step down
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
Flashback: Silvio Berlusconi says he will stay on as Italy’s PM even if convicted in court | French troops were killed after Italy hushed up ‘bribes’ to Taleban | Italian dictator Mussolini was British WWI agent | Italian businessman claims he provided women for parties held by Berlusconi | Anti-G8 demonstrators clash with police in Italy | Author wins award for work identifying categories of state corruption | Ex-Italian President: Provocateur Riots Then “Beat The Shit Out Of Protesters” | Italian Judge: Blogs are Illegal | Troops patrolling Italian cities alongside police | Berlusconi puts 2,500 troops on streets of Italian cities to patrol alongside police | Ex-Italian President: Intel Agencies Know 9/11 An Inside Job
Canadian Press
December 5, 2009
Tens of thousands of Italians fed up with Silvio Berlusconi marched peacefully through Rome on Saturday to demand the resignation of the scandal-plagued premier.
Organizers called the grass-roots protest “No B Day,” with the “B” standing for Berlusconi, the billionaire businessman and conservative leader now in his third term as premier.
Several political opposition leaders said they stayed away to keep the protest a citizens’ one, not a partisan event. Organizers hoped for a turnout of 300,000 people. Rome police estimated the crowd at 90,000 — many of them chanting “resignation, resignation!”
Berlusconi’s allies shrugged off the event. About “350,000 in the streets? Even if that’s true, it would mean that more than 59.5 million Italians are favourable to the government,” said a cabinet minister, Roberto Calderoli, referring to Italy’s overall population of about 60 million. [Ed. Note: Because they all would have jumped the first train to Rome to voice their dissent, lol]