Noi abbiamo una forma democratica della leadership: i leader possono cambiare. Mentre la destra italiana da sedici anni è sotto il comando imperituro di Berlusconi. Però vorrei fare osservare che è la loro l'anomalia, non la nostra. Perché Berlusconi, che ha perduto per due volte le elezioni, nel '96 e nel 2006, tuttavia è rimasto a capo della destra, cosa che non avviene in nessun paese democratico. E perché Berlusconi, malgrado che abbia perduto per due volte le elezioni, Berlusconi è rimasto, ormai per quasi vent'anni, a capo della destra? Perché lui ne è il proprietario, non il leader. E quindi questo è un concetto del tutto diverso. Ora, se si pensa che anche il centrosinistra debba avere un proprietario, ci si sbaglia. Siamo un'associazione libera.

Clearly, Berlusconi can no longer hold his majority together. It is a whole political phase that is coming to an end, for better or for worse. You see, Berlusconism has always been founded on ‘I am in charge here’. Now, given that the break with Fini is serious and that in the relationship with the Lega it is no longer the Cavaliere who has the ball in his hand, that method no longer works.

The center-right did not lose the elections because of its harsh rhetoric. This is a self-consoling argument: Berlusconi has always used harsh rhetoric, being a populist extremist.

In tutta evidenza, Berlusconi non riesce più a tenere assieme la sua maggioranza. È un'intera fase politica che si chiude, nel bene e nel male. Vede, il berlusconismo è sempre stato fondato sul “qui comando io”. Adesso, visto che la rottura con Fini è seria e che nel rapporto con la Lega non è più il Cavaliere ad avere il pallino in mano, quel metodo non funziona più.

Silvio Berlusconi entered politics to defend his companies.

(About Silvio Berlusconi) He is very good at winning elections, but he cannot govern. He knows how to present himself, but he does not know how to administer.

Or Berlusconi, in Italy, right; the envy of the world, Italy, in terms of history, art and culture, 98 different political parties, and they still managed to elect him! He’s so fucking crooked he sleeps on a spiral staircase! So thoroughly corrupt, every time he smiles an angel gets gonorrhoea! He's had so many face-lifts, his face has moved to the top of his head, you have to get on a step-ladder to watch him lie!

(About Berlusconi) The fall of his leadership worries me, it could block the process of building a democracy of alternation in Italy. (May 31, 1996)

There is no right-wing liberal movement in Italy. It has always been corporatist and statist, and Berlusconism was no exception.

Bersani è un leader autorevole, determinato a costruire un partito e un gruppo dirigente, dopo che si è pensato troppo a lungo che bastasse demolire ciò che c'era per costruire il nuovo.

Berlusconi has changed Italy a lot, but as far as I am concerned he has not changed it for the better, mainly because he has cleared certain attitudes towards women, money, and the sense of institutions. Berlusconi had a patronising attitude with all things in the world, such as women, politics, power, the relationship between public and private. He had a patrimonial relationship with all things and with all people around him. And that was unacceptable to me.

I find it difficult to consider Berlusconi a new man, given that he was one of the closest associates of those who governed Italy in the 1980s. (February 10, 1994)

(About Matteo Renzi) He is a Berlusconi who didn't make it.

A few days ago, I mentioned a bad dream that had disturbed my sleep. It was a nightmare in which Berlusconi was forced to resign and a public health government replaced him, introducing electoral legislation that took us back twenty years. In the end, a large coalition comprising Fini, Casini, Bersani, Di Pietro and Vendola defeated Il Cavaliere, bringing his long reign to an end and plunging us back into the First Republic.