The whole world seems to be clamoring for Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation but has anyone stopped to wonder what’s next? Italy’s fiscal and economic predicaments won’t go away if Berlusconi leaves the stage. Certainly, its borrowing costs won’t drop overnight as the long term outlook for Italy is still dire.

There’s also the political consequences to worry about. Berlusconi consolidated the right after the christian democrats’ demise in the 1990s. There’s never been another conservative leader in Italy for almost twenty years. The country’s political landscape is notoriously splintered. Especially on the left — which is now likely to win the the next election — there’s never been a stable coalition, let alone a stable government.

So I urge readers to be careful what they wish for at the Sentinel today. Berlusconi wasn’t good for Italy but for now, there’s no one to replace him.