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Berlusconi in crucial vote on leadership
Source: Agencies |
December 14, 2010, Tuesday
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ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told members of parliament they risked plunging Italy into the middle of the eurozone's debt crisis if they voted against him in a no-confidence vote today.
Speaking in the Senate a day before a showdown that could force him from office and trigger early elections, Berlusconi said his government had kept Italy out of the turmoil, but that the threat of instability remained.
"It is madness to initiate a crisis without any foreseeable solutions," he said.
A year of party infighting and corruption and sex scandals has hit Berlusconi's leadership credentials, while a scandal over waste management in Naples has made piles of uncollected garbage an embarrassingly visible symbol of the government's weakness.
Today has been dubbed "B-Day" by Italian media. Berlusconi will face a no-confidence motion called by the opposition in the lower house and a confidence vote the government has called itself in the Senate, where it has a majority.
The 74-year-old premier no longer enjoys a lower house majority following a bitter split in July with ex-ally Gianfranco Fini and a group of rebel center-right deputies who formed a breakaway group from the ruling PDL party.
But after days of intense lobbying of wavering rebel and centrist deputies, the government appears to have made up much of the deficit and some commentators estimate a result as close as 314 votes for Berlusconi against 313 for the combined opposition.
Berlusconi said if he defeated the motion, he would open up his government to other forces from the center and center-right, in an appeal to so-called "doves" in the rebel camp not to bring the government down.
Today's vote is being closely watched by financial markets on alert over the eurozone debt crisis, and a prolonged period of uncertainty or a divisive election campaign could turn the spotlight on Italy's strained public finances.
Despite one of the heaviest debt burdens in the world at almost 120 percent of gross domestic product, Italy has largely escaped the turmoil seen in Greece and Ireland thanks to a tight control on public spending and a conservative banking system that avoided excess during the market boom.
"Italy is not one of the problems of the European economy. It is part of the solution," Berlusconi said.
Markets were reassured last week when the 2011 budget was passed in parliament.
But even if Berlusconi wins, there is little confidence he will have the strength to press the kind of reforms authorities such as the Bank of Italy believe are needed to address problems in the economy.
High youth unemployment, uncompetitive industry, crumbling infrastructure and an underfunded education system have all contributed to the chronic weakness of the Italian economy.
Financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore was sceptical.
"These offers may win the confidence of parliament by one or two votes. They are certainly not enough to truly relaunch a government which needs profound renewal," it wrote in a strongly worded editorial yesterday.
Speaking in the Senate a day before a showdown that could force him from office and trigger early elections, Berlusconi said his government had kept Italy out of the turmoil, but that the threat of instability remained.
"It is madness to initiate a crisis without any foreseeable solutions," he said.
A year of party infighting and corruption and sex scandals has hit Berlusconi's leadership credentials, while a scandal over waste management in Naples has made piles of uncollected garbage an embarrassingly visible symbol of the government's weakness.
Today has been dubbed "B-Day" by Italian media. Berlusconi will face a no-confidence motion called by the opposition in the lower house and a confidence vote the government has called itself in the Senate, where it has a majority.
The 74-year-old premier no longer enjoys a lower house majority following a bitter split in July with ex-ally Gianfranco Fini and a group of rebel center-right deputies who formed a breakaway group from the ruling PDL party.
But after days of intense lobbying of wavering rebel and centrist deputies, the government appears to have made up much of the deficit and some commentators estimate a result as close as 314 votes for Berlusconi against 313 for the combined opposition.
Berlusconi said if he defeated the motion, he would open up his government to other forces from the center and center-right, in an appeal to so-called "doves" in the rebel camp not to bring the government down.
Today's vote is being closely watched by financial markets on alert over the eurozone debt crisis, and a prolonged period of uncertainty or a divisive election campaign could turn the spotlight on Italy's strained public finances.
Despite one of the heaviest debt burdens in the world at almost 120 percent of gross domestic product, Italy has largely escaped the turmoil seen in Greece and Ireland thanks to a tight control on public spending and a conservative banking system that avoided excess during the market boom.
"Italy is not one of the problems of the European economy. It is part of the solution," Berlusconi said.
Markets were reassured last week when the 2011 budget was passed in parliament.
But even if Berlusconi wins, there is little confidence he will have the strength to press the kind of reforms authorities such as the Bank of Italy believe are needed to address problems in the economy.
High youth unemployment, uncompetitive industry, crumbling infrastructure and an underfunded education system have all contributed to the chronic weakness of the Italian economy.
Financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore was sceptical.
"These offers may win the confidence of parliament by one or two votes. They are certainly not enough to truly relaunch a government which needs profound renewal," it wrote in a strongly worded editorial yesterday.
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