Italy's Berlusconi fights for political life (Government may fall this Friday)

[pampango]

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi appealed for his political survival Thursday, telling parliament that his government is the only credible alternative to help guide the country through the growing sovereign debt crisis.

Berlusconi's 3 1/2-year-old government faces a confidence vote Friday that will test if the premier retains a majority in Parliament. If the vote fails, Berlusconi must step down.

Berlusconi has steadfastly resisted calls for new elections as his leadership has been weakened by personal scandals, trials and Italy's increasingly precarious financial position.

Berlusconi's coalition partner, the Northern League, has indicated only grudging support for the leader, saying publicly that it is not sure Berlusconi will complete his mandate in 2013.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/10/13/italy-berlusconi-political-future.html

Would be nice to see this right-winger bite the dust.

[dtexdem]

1. So his deal with the Devil may yet end?

I suggest that the Italian opposition both use a wooden stake and expose him to sunlight, lest he come back again, undead. ;-)

[pampango]

2. Damn! NYT: "Berlusconi Holds Onto Power in Italy, but Barely"

In his narrowest escape yet, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote on Friday, saving his government from collapse but effectively preventing it from legislating.

With 316 votes for and 301 votes against, Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right coalition won the vote. But it failed to secure a solid majority, making it increasingly difficult for him to pass legislation aimed at protecting Italy from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

In what the daily Corriere della Sera called “an atmosphere of interminable agony,” analysts said the Berlusconi government was now hanging by a thread and could fall at the next bump in the road — when enough disgruntled lawmakers from within Mr. Berlusconi’s coalition calculate that they would be safer jumping off a sinking ship rather than risk drowning.

“The government is not dealing with the situation,” the leader of the center-left opposition, Pierluigi Bersani, said on Thursday. “The problems have all been laid out, but he only knows how to stay stuck in his seat using tricks.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/europe/berlusconi-holds-onto-power-in-italy-but-barely.html

Not good for Italy. His government has survived for now, but the closeness of the vote is " effectively preventing it from legislating". Berlusconi is still in power but the government is paralyzed.