Massive rally in support of Berlusconi

21 Mar 2010, 6:39 am   -   Source: AAP
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Hundreds of thousands of people have marched through the Italian capital in a massive show of support for PM Silvio Berlusconi ahead of regional elections.

Hundreds of thousands of people have marched through the Italian capital in a massive show of support for embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ahead of regional elections.

Berlusconi used the occasion to launch a blistering attack on his political enemies, saying left-leaning judges and centre-left politicians had concocted "a laughable investigation based on the tapping of my calls".

The billionaire prime minister addressed a rally on Saturday at a packed Piazza San Giovanni in Rome after two giant processions of supporters of his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party had wound their way through the city.

"Do you want phone taps on everyone and everything? Do you want to be spied on in your own homes?" asked Berlusconi of the crowd, who roared back "No".

The Berlusconi camp is on the defensive after being hit by a series of embarrassments over corruption ahead of elections in 13 regions on March 28 and 29.

Prosecutors are currently investigating Berlusconi for graft after tapping Berlusconi's phone conversations.

The PDL also missed the deadline for submitting its list in the Lazio region and questions were raised over the validity of the signatures accompanying its list for Berlusconi's native Lombardy.

An electoral court allowed two PDL candidates to stand in Rome and Milan, but without a secondary list in Lazio.

"We are here to defend our right to vote," said Berlusconi, insisting that PDL officials "were there at the right time and with the right documents".

Rome police declined to offer an estimate for the crowd, but the PDL said more than a million people took part.

At the rally, supporters from around Italy touted Berlusconi and his government's accomplishments and promises.

"Our youth needs to work, it's very important. The future of our youth is Berlusconi," said Giuseppe Sculeo, a 52-year-old electrician from the southern city of Bari.

"This is a government that is doing a lot for the Italian people but that has its hands tied because it's continuously criticised and mistreated," said Giuliano Carrozzo, the party's 65-year-old organiser for the city of Milan.

A recent opinion poll showed Berlusconi's approval rating down to 44 per cent, while his coalition government made up of the PDL and the anti-immigration Northern League scored only 38 per cent.

"The centre-right electorate is disoriented and has lost confidence in its leaders, whom they see as disorganised," said pollster Renato Mannheimer.

Berlusconi, who last month likened the country's judges to Afghanistan's Taliban, has long claimed that "communist" magistrates have been out to get him in a series of corruption cases involving his sprawling media empire.

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