Italy’s Berlusconi meets allies to set up showdown
ROME (Reuters) — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met senior allies on Friday to prepare for a showdown with his main conservative rival next month that could pitch Italy into an election before the end of the year.
A dramatic split last month between Berlusconi and Gianfranco Fini has robbed the prime minister of his secure majority in parliament, where Fini commands the support of 34 deputies and 10 senators.
Berlusconi smiled but said little as he went into the meeting at his private residence in Rome with officials of his People of Freedom (PdL) party and selected members of the cabinet, including Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti.
The summer lull has provided a break in hostilities, with the rival camps reduced to a sour exchange of jibes and accusations through the media, but things are likely to become more serious next month.
Berlusconi intends to call a confidence vote in mid-September and resign if he loses, forcing President Giorgio Napolitano either to appoint an interim government or call an election, which would otherwise not be due before 2013.
Friday’s meeting was intended to fine-tune the issues on which the vote will be held, which range from justice to federal reform, tax and measures to help the underdeveloped south.
«MACHINE IS RUNNING»
Umberto Bossi, the leader of Berlusconi’s Northern League coalition partner, said on Thursday that «the machine is running towards early elections» and a vote could come as early as late November.
But Berlusconi’s side have been trying behind the scenes by to woo Fini supporters back into the fold in a bid to undermine Fini and avoid an unpredictable electoral battle.
«No one holds their post on a personal basis, they do so through the voters,» said Maurizio Gasparri, head of the PdL group in the Senate, implying that Fini’s party owed it to voters to remain loyal to the coalition. «I hope everyone acts in accordance with their electoral mandate.»
A long-standing rivalry between the two leading figures of the Italian centre-right has come to a head over a series of corruption scandals, which have forced two ministers and a junior minister to resign.
Fini has used his position as speaker of the lower house to keep up a barrage of criticism as one Berlusconi ally after another has come under pressure from investigating magistrates.
His attitude has enraged Berlusconi, and few believe that a reconciliation is possible.
«The truth is that the PdL does not have much of a future after what has happened,» Italo Bocchino, one of Fini’s closest allies, told the daily Repubblica on Friday.
07/29/2010
— Filed under: Politics
Tags: Berlusconi, Giorgio Napolitano
