Premier Silvio Berlusconi has overtaken President Giorgio Napolitano in approval ratings among Italians, according to a survey taken by pollster Luigi Crespi last month.
However, this was not due to the premier gaining popularity but because Napolitano's approval rating fell to its lowest since he took office in May 2006.
In fact, Berlusconi's approval rating dipped from 60% in June to 58%, while Napolitano's sank to 57%.
Crespi's poll clashed with one taken by one taken by Nando Pagnoncelli's IPOS agency which said that Napolitano remained the institutional figure who Italians had the greatest confidence in, with an approval rating of 82%, ten percentage points higher than a year ago.
Both research groups agreed that behind the fluctuations in Napolitano's popularity was the role he played during the debate on the so-called Alfano Law, which was passed last month and gave immunity to the president, premier and the speakers of the House and Senate while they are in office.
According to Pagnoncelli, Napolitano's popularity jumped because ''he remained neutral and above the fray during the debate in parliament''.
Crespi disagreed and said that this was the cause of his loss of consent among voters in the opposition center left and far right.
Looking at the members of Berlusconi's government, the two research groups came up with different results but the trends were the same, including the decline in Berlusconi's popularity, which Pagnoncelli said fell from 57% in June to 53% last month.
According to Crespi, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti enjoys the highest approval rating in the executive, followed by Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
Looking at political parties, the Crespi poll put the government People of Freedom Party at 40%, compared to 37.4% in the April elections, while the opposition Italy of Values Party (IDV) led by former anti-graft prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro climbed from its 4.4% result in April to 7.4%.
The opposition Democratic Party's popularity fell to 29% after collecting 33.1% of the vote in April.
''July is not a good month for specific results, given the time of year, but those regarding trends are valid,'' Crespi observed.
