Marrazzo blackmailed? “I just did the opposite thing. Probably the opposite of how some of the leaders of the left-wing parties would have done”. This is what Silvio Berlusconi answered in Bruno Vespa’s last book when he was asked if he could have blackmailed the former governor of Lazio.

“I saw the video – said the Prime Minister – and I called president Marrazzo. I told him that there were, on the market, some videos that could have harmed him, I gave him the telephone number of the agency that had offered the videos and he thanked me”. Yesterday the regional councilmen of Lazio accepted Marrazzo’s resignation, the regional assembly now no longer exists. His former colleagues, even if they criticized his institutional work, did not turn their back on the man, “extremely worn out”. Marrazzo stayed home yesterday, with his family protecting him. A decision made after the attempt to move to a religious institution which was abandoned because of media pressure.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute