Since Veronica Lario-Berlusconi publicly declared that she was filing for divorce after feeling humiliated by her husband's "shamelessly trashy" choice of female candidates for the European elections, Italian politicians, the Church and citizens burst forth in a cacophony of views which go well beyond the scandal itself.
After the prime minister had publicly asked his wife to apologise to him, Roman Catholic bishops turned on Berlusconi by saying that "politics and showbiz, in a deathly attack, have shown the worst of themselves".
"We continue to cultivate the desire for a prime minister who with sobriety knows how to be the least-distorted mirror of the country's soul," the bishops said. Their reaction raised concerns in Berlusconi's camp regarding the Catholic vote, which traditionally backs right-wing parties.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Dario Franceschini rebuffed Berlusconi's accusation that his wife had been manipulated by members the left-wing party.
Berlusconi's conservative Partito della Liberta (PdL) ticket has in recent weeks repeatedly announced the inclusion on its lists of Mediaset starlets and showgirls, including Angela Sozio, a former Big Brother contestant, Barbara Matera, a Miss Italy contestant and model, and TV starlets Camilla Ferranti and Eleonora Gaggiolo.
But while Berlusconi has publicly said there is no reason why showgirls should be prevented from running in the EU elections, he said last week that he regretted that his wife had "believed what she read in the papers".
Berlusconi's party said the women had attended a crash course in politics ahead of the European elections. However, the course was not originally intended for candidates, but parliamentary assistants.
Dubbed the 'Great Seducer', the gaffe-prone Italian prime minister and billionaire, who owns or controls some 70% of the Italian landscape, has been heavily criticised for his stance on women. In 2007, his wife issued an open letter to a daily newspaper demanding a public apology from her husband for flirting with Mara Carfagna, an Italian model turned member of Parliament and currently a minister in Berlusconi's cabinet.
Speaking to AFP, political scientist Marc Lazar said such a public divorce row was a rare spectacle in Italy. "The story might upset part of his electorate – practising Catholics, [but] his popularity rests on other things," Lazar said.
"Anyway, the election campaign will make people forget all that. He's going to start making sharp attacks against the left in the next few hours or days," Lazar added.
An opinion poll made public yesterday (5 May) on the 'Ballaro' TV programme found that most Italians had not changed their mind about their prime minister.
84% of those surveyed said the row had not change their opinion of Berlusconi, and 71% believe the divorce will not affect the outcome of the elections. 69% said politicians should not be judged on the basis of their private life.
According to the latest forecasts on voting intentions, PdL will get 40%, Partito Democratico 26.5%, Italia dei Valori 9%, Lega Nord 9.4%, Rifondazione Comunista and Partito dei Comunisti Italiani 3.1%, and Sinistra e Liberta 2.9%.
