Berlusconi announced Tuesday he would resign after parliament passes economic reforms demanded by the European Union. He acted in the face of a relentless investor attack on Italy's government bonds and crumbling support in parliament, almost certainly ending a political career in which he achieved the feat of becoming his nation's longest-serving premier.
The media baron dominated Italian politics for nearly two decades. He served as premier three times over the past 17 years _ a charismatic if polarizing figure who sold Italians a dream of prosperity with his own personal story of transformation from cruise-ship crooner to Italy's richest man. He also owns AC Milan, one of Italy's famous soccer clubs.
But in his last years in power, he became almost a grotesque caricature of the charming billionaire who cast a spell over his nation.
The hair transplants and plastic surgery became all too obvious. His reputation as a seducer gave way to allegations of trysts with prostitutes and underage girls. He embarrassed Italy with jaw-dropping gaffes at international summits.
Accusations grew that he was in politics not for Italy's sake but for his own _ to boost his business interests and change laws to shield himself from prosecution.
As pressure for his resignation grew, he remained defiant, labeling opponents ``communists'' to be kept at bay and prosecutors as ``terrorists'' defying the will of the people who elected him.
Even as his allies were defecting, he anointed himself Italy's savior at the close of the Group of 20 summit in Cannes, France, last week.
``I feel a duty to continue these things,'' he said. ``This is a great duty and sacrifice for me. Here, at the Cannes summit, I looked around and I don't see anyone in Italy who is up to representing our country. I asked myself, you could represent Italy if I weren't there?''
But he had only so many political lives. The magnetic smile, the confident wisecracking, the perennial optimism were no longer reassuring.
When Italy became the new focus of the eurozone debt crisis, the financial markets delivered their verdict: Berlusconi himself was the problem. He lacked the political clout to quickly pass the needed measures to boost growth and cut debt. To use a metaphor from his beloved sport of soccer, it was game over.
But ousting Berlusconi wasn't easy.
``He's not the retiring type. ... It's very much a personal trait, he really thinks he's the best in the world,'' said James Walston, a professor of political science at Rome's American University.
The ultimate fear that clinched political change was that Italy would not be able to pay for its enormous (euro) 1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) debt. That is too expensive for Europe to handle, and could trigger a default that would break up the 17-nation eurozone and drag down the global economy.
Berlusconi had used television and his own wealth to build a political career. He boasted of his riches and kept a lavish lifestyle that included partying with young women.
``I'm no saint,'' he said defiantly after his wife of almost 20 years announced she was seeking a divorce in 2009.
But the scandals picked up steam. First a self-described call girl said she went to bed with Berlusconi on the night that Barack Obama was elected U.S. president.
Then came embarrassing criminal charges that he had sex with an underage Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby Rubacuori (``Rudy the Heart-Stealer) and used his office to cover it up. The trial is in progress.
While he repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, the 75-year-old Berlusconi was becoming increasingly reclusive in public as he sought to defend himself in three trials and several other criminal investigations.
The trials _ the sex case, tax fraud and corruption _ will continue but once out of office he will lose the ability to delay hearings as he has been doing, citing conflicts with official business.
Berlusconi had the power to inspire both fierce loyalty and equally fierce opposition. To his admirers, the conservative leader was a capable statesman who sought to make Italy rich and powerful. To his critics, he was a populist whose immense media and political power made him a threat to democracy.
That was perhaps never more apparent than when Berlusconi was attacked by an unstable man during a political rally in Milan in 2009.
The attacker threw a souvenir statuette of Milan's cathedral at the premier's face, leaving him with a fractured nose, two broken teeth and lip cuts. Images of Berlusconi's bloody, shocked face drew sympathy and solidarity even among critics, but his attacker also generated a storm of praise on Facebook and YouTube.
Berlusconi often boasted of his success with women. He entertained friends and world leaders alike at his villas on the Emerald Coast of Sardinia. Scores of young women frequently attended: On one occasion, Italian newspapers reported, the girls were all dressed as ``little Santas.''
Berlusconi was famously nicknamed ``Papi'' (or ``Daddy'') by a Neapolitan girl whose 18th birthday party he attended in 2009, an appearance that initiated a spate of sex scandals and left his wife so furious that she filed for divorce soon afterward.
Berlusconi reveled in straying from political etiquette.
He once famously sported a bandanna when receiving British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Sardinia. (The reason, it turned out later, was to conceal a recent hair transplant.)
He posed for an international summit's family photo making an Italian gesture _ which can be offensive or superstitious depending on the circumstances _ in which the index and pinkie fingers are pointed like horns. He made German Chancellor Angela Merkel wait while he chatted on his mobile phone during a NATO summit.
And he caused an international outcry in 2003 when he compared a German EU parliament lawmaker to a Nazi camp guard.
Berlusconi became rich after breaking the state monopoly on television in the late 1970s. Twenty-five years later his Mediaset network was a cash cow thanks to game shows, scantily clad girls and imported U.S. sitcoms in deals that were the source of some of his criminal prosecutions. Together with the state network that he effectively controlled as premier, he held 90 percent of Italy's TV market.
When the ``Clean Hands'' corruption scandals broke in the 1990s, wiping out the entire political establishment, he founded his own party in 1994 and named it after a soccer cheer: Forza Italia. He was elected premier three months later by Italian seeking a break from the past.
That government was short-lived after his Northern League ally pulled out later that year. But he was re-elected two more times: in 2001, when his government served out an entire 5-year term, and again in 2008.
Summing up his appeal, he said: ``Most Italians in their hearts would like to be like me and see themselves in men and in how I behave.''
But that appeal, according to all opinion polls, began to wane when the economy failed to grow, unemployment began creeping up, and job prospects for young people disappeared.
At the same time, he was devoting much of his political capital to protect his own interests, including a bill to shorten the statute of limitations and another that would have provided him with immunity from trials. It was overturned by the Constitutional Court.
Even as the debt crisis worsened, he pushed legislation to limit publication of wiretaps before trial, citing himself and other prominent people as victims, and tried to include a measure in an austerity package that would have allowed his family investment company to dodge a heavy fine.
Berlusconi's departure leaves major questions about the future of his party. It has been weakened by prominent defections and he himself had repeatedly said he would not seek re-election. His hand-picked successor, his former justice minister Angelino Alfano, lacks Berlusconi's dynamism.
<한글기사>
성추문-부패혐의 꿈쩍않던 伊총리 '시장'에 무릎꿇다
성추문과 부패 혐의에도 꿈쩍 않았던 실비오 베를루스코니 이탈리아 총리를 무릎 꿇린 것은 결국 시장이었다.
칠순의 고령에도 불구하고 자신의 호화 별장에 미성년자가 포함된 매춘부들을 불러 '섹스 파티'를 즐겼던 사실이 들통나 국제 외교무대에서 망신을 당하면서도 꿋꿋하게 버텼던 베를루스코니였으나 이탈리아를 국가부도 위기까지 닦아세운 시장에 는 두손 들고 말았다.
지난 9월 세계적 신용평가회사 스탠더드 앤드 푸어스(S&P)가 이탈리아 신용등급을 강등했을 때 금융시장은 이미 베를루스코니에게 '옐로카드'가 아닌 '레드카드'를 내보였다.
당시 S&P는 "시장의 압력에 이탈리아 정부가 임시방편으로 대응하는 것을 볼때 경제적 도전을 헤쳐나가는 수단과 관련, 정치적 불확실성이 지속될 것으로 전망된다 "고 신용등급 강등의 이유를 밝혔다.
에두른 표현이었지만, 한 마디로 해석하면 베를루스코니가 이끄는 이탈리아 정부의 리더십 부재, 즉 정치력 부재를 비판한 대목이었다.
베를루스코니는 이 위기도 이겨낼 것으로 자신하면서 버텼으나 시장은 이탈리아국채 수익률을 7%에 근접할 정도로 끌어올리면서 압박의 강도를 높였고 마침내 베를루스코니의 '항복'을 받아냈다.
1999년 유럽 단일통화인 유로화가 출범한 이래 이탈리아 국채 수익률이 6%대 후반으로 치솟은 것은 처음이다.
이탈리아 명문 프로축구팀 AC 밀란의 구단주로 축구광인 베를루스코니에게 시장은 "경기 종료"를 선언한 셈이다.
자신의 비판 세력을 "공산주의자"라거나 "테러리스트"로 불렀던 그는 결국 자신 이 그렇게 신봉했던 자유주의 시장경제 체제 때문에 정치 인생을 끝내게 됐다.
성추문과 부패 혐의 등 온갖 걸림돌에도 베를루스코니가 지금까지 버텨온 데는 "내가 최고이며 나 말고는 이탈리아를 이끌 사람이 없다"는 '자기 최면'의 영향이 컸다.
그는 지난주 프랑스 칸에서 열린 주요 20개국(G20) 정상회의에서도 "이 일(총리 직)을 계속해야 하는 의무감을 갖는다. 이는 내게 엄청난 의무이자 자기희생이다.
여기 칸에서도 주변을 둘러보면 (나 대신) 이탈리아를 이끌 사람을 찾아볼 수 없다"고 말하기도 했다.
로마 아메리칸대학의 정치학 교수인 제임스 월스턴은 뉴스통신 AP에 "그는 은퇴 할 타입이 아니다. 매우 특이한 개인적 특성이다. 그는 진정으로 자신이 이 세상에 최고라고 여긴다"고 말했다.
베를루스코니는 이제 대를 이어 그리스를 이끌었던 게오르기오스 파판드레우와 '유럽연합(EU) + 국제통화기금(IMF)' 구제금융을 받으면서 물러난 버티 아헌 전(前)아일랜드 총리, 주제 소크라테스 전 포르투갈 총리와 함께 '금융시장이 쫓아낸' 전직 총리 대열에 합류하게 됐다.
