European democracy in crisis
Does the second resignation of an elected leader in a week reflect a gulf between the people’s will and the common good?
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, quit on Saturday – the second democratically-elected European leader to have resigned within a week.
Berlusconi’s resignation came in the same week that George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, relinquished his post to make way for a new coalition government headed by a technocratic economist.
Does the common good of Europe run against the interests of the people? Or was it the people who made the wrong choices? And how much are member countries willing to sacrifice in order to remain united?
Inside Story, with presenter Adrian Finighan, discusses with guests: Mats Persson, the director of Open Europe, a eurosceptic think tank; Piotr Kaczynski, a research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies; and Peter Schiff, the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital.
| “It is a great satisfaction being able to see the end of a difficult era that was a nightmare for many. Maybe the satisfaction is not as full as it could have been now we will have ‘comrade’ Monti, but let’s hope for the best, [it] can’t be any worse than this past government. We’ll see.”
Silvia Mazzocchi, Rome resident |