Paranoia

Berlusconi Fears ‘Palace Coup’

'There is a campaign of scandals against me.'

Silvio Berlusconi has taken a page from Hillary Clinton's "right wing conspiracy" playbook. The Times of London reports that the Italian Prime Minister believes that a "palace coup" intends to oust him. Berlusconi recently told a business lobby group, "There is a campaign of scandals against me. It is a subversive plan because its aim is to bring down a Prime Minister and to put in his place another not elected by Italians." Although Berlusconi declined to name the alleged plotters, he fingered Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy, as the plotters' choice to replace him. In recent months, the embattled leader has been rocked by a scandal involving his relationship with a young model and the use of state aircraft to fly showgirls and other guests to his Sardinian villa for parties.