Italian Region's Expenses Scandal Points to Wider Unease

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An expenses scandal that forced the resignation of an Italian regional governor from Silvio Berlusconi's party this week is not only a blow for the ex-premier but a sign of wider discontent, experts said.

"No political party should have any illusions. Even if not everyone acted in the same way, there is an anger against them that could become dangerous," said Giacomo Marramao, a professor of political philosophy at Rome III University.

The governor of the Lazio region, Renata Polverini, a former trade union leader, resigned on Monday saying she was shocked by the outrageous use of public finances by her own party, Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL).

Prosecutors are investigating a dozen regional deputies from the PDL for a variety of fraud crimes and newspapers have been filled for days with stories of lavish spending on toga parties, oyster dinners and luxury cars.

The former leader of the PDL's regional deputies, Franco Fiorito, nicknamed "Batman" by his friends for the way he once flew off a Harley Davidson, is suspected of defrauding the state of around a million euros ($1.3 million).

He has defended himself saying he always acted according to the law.

"It's easy to be honest by legally dividing up public funds," said Francesco Merlo, a columnist for the leftist La Repubblica daily, who pointed to the huge salary increases for regional lawmakers even as Italy plunged into recession.

Italian press reports said that regional deputies in Lazio, who already earn around 12,000 euros a month, have voted to increase their pay packets by around 8,300 euros over the past two years while Polverini has been in charge.

Regional party leaders also awarded themselves extra bonuses, while the amount of funds given by the regional administration to political parties has risen from 1.0 million euros to 14 million euros a year over the same period.

Popular resentment has built up since local taxes have tripled in the Lazio region because of a spiraling economic crisis, while residents have also complained about the steep cuts to healthcare spending and culture.

-- A 'semi-legal scandal' --

"The worst is that this is a semi-legal scandal," said Stefano Folli, a columnist for the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

Folli said the result could be a strengthening of movements hostile to party politics like the populist ex-comedian Beppe Grillo.

"It's a whole system" that is being questioned, said Marramao, adding that even Renaissance thinker Niccolo Machiavelli had pointed to "an absence of a civic sense" in Italy where many politicians just aim to get rich quick.

Left-wing daily L'Unita said the expenses scandal has "increased the sense of defiance and suspicion of citizens towards parties and institutions."

Berlusconi is clearly concerned by the scandal and has called for a root-and-branch reform of an opaque system of financing for political parties.

His party has been riven by infighting and hit by poor results ever since he stepped down in November 2011 and retreated from front line political life.

"We need to intervene with courage and severity. Politics in Italy is at risk of dying as it is discredited by intolerable collective and individual behavior," Berlusconi said in a statement after Polverini's resignation.

For a defendant in three trials including one for having sex with an underage prostitute, critics said Berlusconi has also done his bit to discredit politics -- although perhaps not as much as his protege Nicole Minetti.

A former starlet turned regional deputy in the Lombardy region, Minetti is also on trial for allegedly procuring prostitutes for Berlusconi.

Undeterred, the curvaceous brunette took to the catwalk for a lingerie show at Milan Fashion Week this week and said she would be keeping the proceeds.

As she smiled for the cameras in a skimpy bikini, Minetti compared herself to the many Italians who are forced to work two jobs to make ends meet.

"This is my second job, just like a lot of people," she said.