This past weekend’s vote for representatives to the European Parliament was read beforehand as a chance to show massive personal support for Premier Silvio Berlusconi and to demonstrate the expansive vitality of his rightist Popolo della Liberta’ (PdL), into which Gianfranco Fini’s Alleanza Nazionale merged little more than a year ago. Instead, the vote was a setback for both Premier and party, and shows an increase in protest parties and individual protests.