Berlusconi Denies Responsibility for Italy Crisis in TV Showdown

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s longest-serving elected head of government, refused to accept responsibility for the deepening recession in a televised debate last night with a long-time critic.

Berlusconi blamed Prime Minister Mario Monti and politicians he said had communist sympathies in the two-and-a-half hour interview. The host, Michele Santoro, periodically interrupted to show reports highlighting Italians’ economic desperation and a video of the ex-premier making a gaffe when meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Berlusconi, who resigned in November 2011, was asked at the start of the discussion to apologize for Italy’s crisis.