For us in India, this might appear comic, hilarious and even ethereally unreal (After all, can you imagine even a state level leader – forget the Prime Minister – of India getting embroiled in such deliciously juicy and salacious scandals that are reported by India’s 24 hour news channels with relish?). But there are serious issues that lie buried below the brouhaha over Berlusconi. And the most important one is about the conduct and behaviour of a public representative and a leader. It is about the role of Caesar’s wife and the old tale about her need to be above suspicion. Should a leader be “infallible” when it comes to his or her personal life/ Should a leader set an example for all other citizens by consistently displaying “family values”?
Traditionally, there has been a deep divide between continental Europe and the Anglo-Saxon countries – particularly United Kingdom and the United States of America. In the latter, it has always been the kiss of death for a political career if a married politician is ‘found’ to be cavorting with the ‘other woman’. Not many of you will perhaps recall, but there was a promising Democrat politician called Gary Hart whose Presidential ambitions died in the late 1980s when the ‘paparazzi caught him in the act’. Back in the 1960s, many a career in Britain was doomed to infamy and exile when it was discovered that the Soviet spy agency KGB was using the ‘other woman’ to ‘compromise’ public leaders. (India, of course, is firmly in the Anglo-Saxon alliance of morality).
In continental Europe, both the media and the voters seem to be far more relaxed. It is only long after he finished his Presidency that the French media revealed that Francois Mitterand had fathered a love child. And the French didn’t really bother when their President Nicolas Sarkozy divorced his wife and married the Italian model Carla Bruni. Nor have the Italians been very upset with the calisthenics of their leader Berlusconi. But the tide seems to be turning now and the ageing Berlusconi might just realise that too much of a good thing can be bad for your career. Incidentally, it was about 20 years ago that Berlusconi divorced his first wife and married Veronica Lario. Interestingly, his first glimpse of Veronica was as a topless artiste on stage.
Traditionally, there has been a deep divide between continental Europe and the Anglo-Saxon countries – particularly United Kingdom and the United States of America. In the latter, it has always been the kiss of death for a political career if a married politician is ‘found’ to be cavorting with the ‘other woman’. Not many of you will perhaps recall, but there was a promising Democrat politician called Gary Hart whose Presidential ambitions died in the late 1980s when the ‘paparazzi caught him in the act’. Back in the 1960s, many a career in Britain was doomed to infamy and exile when it was discovered that the Soviet spy agency KGB was using the ‘other woman’ to ‘compromise’ public leaders. (India, of course, is firmly in the Anglo-Saxon alliance of morality).
In continental Europe, both the media and the voters seem to be far more relaxed. It is only long after he finished his Presidency that the French media revealed that Francois Mitterand had fathered a love child. And the French didn’t really bother when their President Nicolas Sarkozy divorced his wife and married the Italian model Carla Bruni. Nor have the Italians been very upset with the calisthenics of their leader Berlusconi. But the tide seems to be turning now and the ageing Berlusconi might just realise that too much of a good thing can be bad for your career. Incidentally, it was about 20 years ago that Berlusconi divorced his first wife and married Veronica Lario. Interestingly, his first glimpse of Veronica was as a topless artiste on stage.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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