Political mutiny
November 7, 2011
Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has defied calls for his resignation and claimed on Sunday that he has enough support within parliament to survive a vote of confidence and implement economic reforms aimed at preventing Rome from succumbing to the eurozone debt crisis.
Some members of Berlusconi's own center-right coalition are demanding that he either bring the centrist opposition into his government or resign his post as prime minister. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Italians took to the streets in Rome over the weekend calling for Berlusconi's ouster.
But the Italian premier has remained defiant, claiming that he can still wield a majority in parliament and that the only other option would be elections. He will face a critical vote in Italy's Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday on public finances.
"We maintain that there are no alternatives to our government until 2013," said Berlusconi, referring to Italy's next general elections.
International pressure
Italy has become a growing source of concern within the eurozone as yields on its government bonds rise to record levels, and its economy stalls under a sovereign debt that adds up to 120 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).
Rome has come under pressure from its European partners, particularly France and Germany, to rapidly implement reform measures in order to fend off a debt contagion that could bring down the 17-member currency union.
Divisions within Berlusconi's own cabinet, however, prevented the Italian premier from presenting a concrete reform package to his European partners in the run up to the G20 summit in Cannes, France last week. At the summit, Berlusconi agreed to allow the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Commission to monitor Italy's progress toward economic reform.
Former Berlusconi ally Gianfranco Fini - speaker of the Italian parliament's lower house - said that even if the prime minister could scrape together a majority, his government still had lost its credibility.
"The government must understand that it is not credible even if it wins in parliament by a vote, because with a majority of one vote you can survive but you cannot govern," Fini said.
Author: Spencer Kimball (Reuters, AP)
Editor: Andy Valvur