Silvio Berlusconi vented his fury at the “amateurs and idiots” surrounding him after his ruling party was disqualified yesterday from two of this month’s crucial regional polls for failing to submit valid electoral lists in time.
Barring an appeal, the Prime Minister’s People of Liberty (PdL) party will not be able to contest elections in Lazio, the region surrounding Rome, and Lombardy, Mr Berlusconi’s home turf, because of what the media described as a “comedy of errors”.
The elections were seen as a test of Mr Berlusconi’s waning popularity amid sex scandals and mounting allegations of corruption.
In Lazio, Alfredo Milioni, a PdL official, missed the deadline for handing in the party’s candidate list by first showing up too early, and then too late.
Full story: Silvio Berlusconi misses polls after ‘idiots’ failed to submit list – Times Online