Reuters The remarkable success of Prime Minister Mario Monti, feted as a hero both at home and abroad, has created turmoil among Italy's discredited politicians and is likely to provoke radical shifts in the political landscape over the coming year. Some analysts say the impact of Monti will spark a political revolution comparable to the “Clean Hands” corruption probe — whose 20th anniversary is this week. That scandal swept away the old order, sending hundreds of politicians to jail and forcing Bettino Craxi, the dominant figure of his era, into exile in Tunisia where he died. “The whole Italian system is in transition, linked to Monti's success and the European environment...there is a crisis in the parties,” said a senior center-left politician who asked not to be named. “It is not possible for the existing parties to get back into power, that is why they are worried,” said a senior official in Monti's government. “I don't expect any old (political) vehicle to be a vehicle in the future.” When Monti was appointed to head a technocrat government in November, with Italy on the brink of an economic catastrophe that would likely have killed the euro, there were predictions the politicians would only give him a few months to calm markets before forcing an early election. Rightist politicians talked of “pulling out the plug.” That talk is history. Scarcely anybody now believes there will be elections before scheduled in spring 2013, including Monti's discredited predecessor Silvio Berlusconi, whose scandal-plagued final months had destroyed confidence on the markets. Politicians are scrambling to form new groups and find a figure who could credibly replace Monti, with his Industry Minister Corrado Passera, former head of bank Intesa Sanpaolo, being widely mentioned. The centrist UDC party and others have even suggested Monti himself should carry on to mend the economy after 2013 despite his vow to step down. There are wide predictions however, that he will become head of state when President Giorgio Napolitano-architect of the technocrat government-steps down next year. Italy's borrowing costs, which rose to untenable levels under Berlusconi, have receded since Monti took over from a red line of above 7 percent to 5.5 percent. Nobody suggests Italy is in the clear, facing a huge debt, sharp recession and stagnant growth. Moody's followed other ratings agencies in downgrading the country on Monday. But on the markets, where image and psychology are so important, the contrast between the sober, professorial Monti and the flamboyant Berlusconi could not be more stark. Time magazine's latest European edition, on the stands as Monti was greeted warmly by US President Barack Obama in Washington, put the prime minister on the front with the headline: “Can this man save Europe?” Just three months before Time fronted Berlusconi with the title: “The man behind the world's most dangerous economy.” Despite pouring bitter austerity medicine down the throats of Italians in a swift raft of policies, Monti, welcomed as a new type of effective, fair and no-nonsense leader, remains popular at home with a rating of around 60 percent. Politicians, bankers and officials say Monti's intellectual prestige as a former European Commissioner has put Rome back on the euro zone top table with Germany and France where he is able to protect Italy's interests in a way Berlusconi could not. __
