Berlusconi riskeert vervroegde verkiezingen na breuk met eerdere bondgenoot (en)
Italy was thrown in political turmoil on Friday (30 July) after a former ally of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi formed a new group in the lower house, a move that could set the country on course for early elections.
Gianfranco Fini, the prime minister's former ally turned foe, formed a new group in the lower house of parliament with 33 members, enough to deprive the government of its majority in the chamber. The new Fini group, registered with the name "Future and Freedom for Italy," also has ten supporters in the Senate, which could reduce Berlusconi's majority there to two votes.
Following months of bickering with the premier, Mr Fini on Thursday (29 July) was expelled from the ruling People of Freedom (PdL) party, which he co-founded with Mr Berlusconi two years ago.
The row reached its boiling point on Thursday evening when Mr Berlusconi publicly called his ally a "traitor" for stirring up internal dissent and his "devastating criticism of decisions taken by the party," asking him to step down as speaker of the lower chamber.
Mr Fini, an ex-fascist who has embraced a centre-right line, publicly criticised the government for its attempt to restrict police use of wiretaps and complained about the prime minister's "dictatorial style" of government.
"Obviously, I will not hand in my resignation," Mr Fini told a news conference on Friday, saying he had to guarantee the functioning of the parliament.
He attacked the premier for "having not exactly a liberal concept of democracy," and said his group will support the government, but "will not hesitate to fight proposals that are unfair or damaging to the wider interest," Reuters reports.
Mr Fini did not mention the risk of early elections, which are now a real possibility, given the 36 confidence votes the Berlusconi government had to survive so far.
The coalition, made up of PdL and the far-right Northern League, needs a majority of 316 in the lower house. Before the split, it could count on up to 344 votes, including 14 from smaller parties who decide votes on an ad hoc basis.
But the new numbers could deprive Mr Berlusconi of this comfortable cushion, leaving him prey to demands from the Northern League, which caused the collapse of his first government in 1994.
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Mr Berlusconi appeared confident however that his government will stay on solid ground and ruled out any cabinet reshuffle.
His poll ratings have recently plummeted, especially after the passing of an austerity package containing €25 billion in budget cuts, aimed at bringing the country's deficit to under 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2012.
The dispute comes on top of a series of corruption and sex scandals surrounding the 73-year old media magnate who prides himself on having invested so much in cosmetic surgery that he looks younger than when he first became a premier in 1994.
The latest scandal concerns his eldest daughter, Barbara, who was offered a position as a university teacher, even though she just graduated from that institution.
According to Roberta de Monticelli, chair of philosophy at the Milan university where the young Berlusconi had been studying, the dean had offered that she become a teacher of economics "based on the thinking of the author on which she had written her thesis."
The university has since denied the move, saying that it was "certainly not an offer for work, let alone discrimination towards the other graduates." Critics say the supposed offer was in order to secure funding for the institution.