Political career of Silvio Berlusconi major demonstration of the centre-right in Rome against the government led by Romano Prodi, Silvio Berlusconi proposed the foundation of a ""Freedom Party"", stressing that the people and the voters of the different political movements adhering to the demonstration were all part of a ""people of freedom"". On 18 November 2007, after claiming the collection of more than 7 million signatures (including Umberto Bossi's) demanding the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano to call a fresh election, Silvio Berlusconi announced from the running board of a car in a crowded Piazza San Babila in Milan that Forza Italia would have
Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy was marked by the global financial and economic crisis. As president of the European Union during the last six months of 2008, and as the president of a member country of the G-8 and the G-20, Nicolas Sarkozy was very much involved in the international debates and propositions to fight against the crisis. He had also to cope with the economic and social effects of the crisis in France. In particular, he had to renounce to reduce the public deficit as he had promised, and instead he had to launch a stimulus package, as part of the 2008