Berlusconi and the announcement of taking the field: it was January 26, 1994 - News

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Silvio Berlusconi has announced his decision ''to take the field'' and to deal with ''public affairs''.

''I don't want to live - he said - in an illiberal country, governed by immature forces and by men closely linked to a politically and economically bankrupt past''.

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MAN 26-JAN-94 17:30

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This is

made by Berlusconi on television with a recorded cassette: ''Italy' It's the country I love.

Here I have my roots, my hopes, my horizons.

Here I learned my profession as an entrepreneur from my father and from life.

Here I learned the passion for freedom''.

''I chose to take the field and deal with public affairs because I don't want to live in an illiberal country, governed by immature forces and by men closely linked to a politically and economically bankrupt past''.

''To be able to make this new life choice, I resigned today from every social position of the group I founded.

I therefore renounce my role as publisher and entrepreneur to put my experience and all my commitment at the disposal of a battle in which I believe with absolute conviction and with the greatest firmness''.

''I know what I don't want and, together with the many Italians who have given me their trust over all these years, I also know what I want.

And I also have the reasonable hope of being able to achieve it, in sincere and loyal alliance with all the liberal and democratic forces who feel the civil duty to offer the country a credible alternative to the government of the left and the communists''.

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COM-MAN/LP 26-JAN-94 17:58

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''The old Italian political class - said Berlusconi - has been overwhelmed by the facts and surpassed by the times.

The collapse of the old rulers, crushed by the weight of public debt and the system of illegal party financing, leaves the country unprepared and uncertain in the difficult moment of renewal and the transition to a new Republic.

Never before has Italy, which rightly mistrusts prophets and saviors, needed people with a good head on their shoulders and with consolidated experience, creative and innovative, capable of lending a hand, of making the State work''.

''The referendum movement - added Berlusconi - led to the popular choice of a new system of parliamentary elections.

But for the new system to work, it is essential that the left-wing cartel is opposed by a center of freedom that is capable of attracting the best of a clean, reasonable, modern country.

All the forces that refer to the fundamental principles of Western democracies must be part of this hub of freedom, starting from that Catholic world which has generously contributed to the last fifty years of our united history.

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COM-MAN/LP 26-JAN-94 17:59

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''The important thing - said Berlusconi - is knowing how to also propose to Italian citizens the same objectives and values ​​that have thus far allowed the development of freedoms in all the great Western democracies.

Those objectives and values ​​which have never found full citizenship in any of the countries governed by the old communist apparatus, however repainted and recycled.

We don't see how Italy could make an exception to this elementary rule".

''The orphans and nostalgics of communism, in fact, are not only unprepared to govern the country.

They also bring with them an ideological legacy that clashes and clashes with the needs of a public administration that wants to be liberal in politics and liberal in economics.

Our lefts demand to be changed.

They say they have become liberal democrats.

But it's not true.

Their men are always the same, their mentality, their culture, their deepest beliefs, their behaviors have remained the same.

They don't believe in the market, they don't believe in private initiative, they don't believe in profit, they don't believe in the individual.

They don't believe that the world can improve through the free contribution of many people who are all different from each other.

They haven't changed.

Listen to them talk,

watch their state-paid news, read their press''.

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COM-MAN/LP 26-JAN-94 18:15

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''They no longer believe in anything - continued Berlusconi -.

They would like to transform the country into a screaming, shouting, inveighing, condemning square.

This is why we are forced to oppose them.

Because we believe in the individual, in the family, in business, in competition, in development, in efficiency, in the free market and in solidarity, the daughter of justice and freedom''.

''If I have decided to take the field with a new movement, and if I now ask you, all of you, to take the field too - now, immediately, before it is too late - it is because I dream - with my eyes wide open - a free society, of women and men, where there is no fear, where instead of social envy and class hatred there is generosity, dedication, solidarity, love for work , tolerance and respect for life.''.

''The political movement that I propose is called, not by chance, Forza Italia.

What we want to make of it is a free organization of electors and voters of a totally new type: not yet another party or yet another faction that is born to divide, but a force that is instead born with the opposite objective: that of uniting, to finally give Italy a majority and a government capable of meeting the needs most deeply felt by ordinary people".

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COM-MAN/LP 26-JAN-94 18:17

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''What we want to offer Italians - Berlusconi said again - is a political force made up of totally new men.

What we want to offer the nation is a government program made up only of concrete and understandable commitments.

We want to renew Italian society, we want to give support and trust to those who create employment and well-being, we want to accept and win the great production and technological challenges of Europe and the modern world.

We want to offer space to anyone who wants to do and build their own future, in the North as well as in the South. We want a government and a parliamentary majority that knows how to give adequate dignity to the original nucleus of every society, to the family, that knows how to respect every faith and which arouse reasonable hopes for those who are weaker, for those looking for work, for those in need of care, for those who, after a hard-working life, have the right to live in serenity''.

''A government and a majority that pay more attention to the environment, that know how to oppose crime, corruption and drugs with the utmost determination.

That they know how to guarantee citizens more safety, more order and more efficiency".

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COM-MAN/LP 26-JAN-94 18:18

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''The history of Italy - concluded Berlusconi - is at a turning point.

As an entrepreneur, as a citizen and now as a citizen who takes the field, without any shyness but with the determination and serenity that life has taught me, I tell you that it is possible to put an end to a politics of incomprehensible chatter, of stupid squabbles and politicians without a profession.

I tell you that it is possible to realize a great dream together: that of a fairer Italy, more generous towards those in need, more prosperous and serene, more modern and efficient, a protagonist in Europe and in the world.

I tell you that we can, I tell you that we must build together, for us and for our children, a new Italian miracle''.

COM-MAN/LP 26-JAN-94 18:19

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In his message, broadcast first by Tg4 at 5.30 pm, Berlusconi also announced that he had ''handed in his resignation today'' ''from every social position in the group'' that he founded and to renounce his ''role as publisher and entrepreneur''.

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MAN 26-JAN-94 17:41 NNNN

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