The person responsible for having presented the PDL's irregular lists late declared to reporters last night that "...revenge is a plate to be served cold." This apparently alludes to his previous behaviour in 2005 when he tried to pull the same trick. His famous "sandwich" break was deliberate.

Having little else to do, PDL big shots have taken to making calumnious accusations against the Radical party for having some how screwed them up. Berlusconi and his flunkies once again demonstrate an utter incapacity to recognize responsibility for their own actions.

Last night Berlusconi attempted to convince President Napolitano of the necessity of a law decree to allow the PDL to participate in the competition in Lombardy and Rome. It appears that Napolitano would only sign into law a bill approved by all parties in parliament but invited Berlusconi to wait until a final sentence in both cases.

Berlusconi has prepared a decree that will change the rules during the game. At this point it's merely a question of propaganda and media blitzkriegs, made all the easier by the television news blackout. The PDL seeks to depict itself as a victim of an anti-democratic putsch. (That it was of their own doing is swept under the rug.) By voting a law by simple majority (the opposition has declared they would not vote for it) Berlusconi will put Napolitano on the spot, forcing an institutional crisis.  

The position of the racist ally Lega Nord is anything but ambiguous. Bossi has everything to gain from the chaos in Rome and Lombardy. He need only sit back and wait until the dust settles.

The opposition leader Di Pietro just accused Berlusconi of planning a coup d'état. He warned that if Berlusconi continues with his plans there will be organized resistance in the streets.

The rhetoric on both sides of the fence is at the breaking point.