So, another week passes and impasse supposedly reigns in the political sphere in Italy. Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled, in accordance with electoral procedure, on the official results of the Election. It came as no surprise to anyone (not even Berluska) that, after a week of examining contested ballot papers, the result of the election remained substantially unchanged. So, does that mean that everybody’s favourite media tycoon and ‘democrat’ recognises defeat? Of course not.

Does it actually mean anything? Not really. There is jostling and pressure between the outgoing government and Prodi’s incoming government over the timetable – there is after all a new President of the Republic to elect (a position the 69 year old Berlusconi is said to covet, either for himself or one of his ‘associates’), but that aside, there is no doubt that the next government will be Prodi’s centre-left coalition.

Due to the miniscule majority that Prodi holds in the Senate, it’s almost inevitable that the new government will fall sooner rather than later. The game (and that is how these elected officials seem to treat politics, in the face of increasing economic woes) being played now is simply the start of the new election campaign.

Berlusconi, the richest and probably still the most powerful man in Italy long ago learned the value of being presented as the underdog. Like a perpetual Irish soccer fan (or perhaps in his Milan shirt, given their latest result), he will approach the polls, when they happen, crying ‘we wuz robbed’.