Berlusconi survives vital vote

Published on Wednesday 4 August 2010 16:42

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday survived his first test in parliament since the break-up with a powerful ally, a victory that leaves his conservative government safely in place at least until after the summer.

But the vote also exposed the erosion of Mr Berlusconi's majority after the split with ally Gianfranco Fini.

In a vote in the lower house of parliament, Mr Berlusconi's MPs defeated an opposition censure motion against a government minister implicated in a corruption scandal.

The 299-229 vote was parliament's last politically significant act until September. It was seen as a test of strength for Mr Berlusconi.

"This is a signal that we're staying on and that there is no election now," said Umberto Bossi, leader of the Northern League government party and, at this point, Mr Berlusconi's staunchest partner.

MPs loyal to Mr Fini abstained from the voting. Mr Fini's 33 deputies formed their own breakaway parliamentary group in the wake of the break-up, potentially depriving Mr Berlusconi's coalition of a majority in the lower house.

Yesterday's decision to abstain kept Mr Berlusconi afloat but also showed that the premier's grip is loosening and gave a measure of Mr Fini's clout.

Mr Fini's MPs sided with a group of centrist and moderate deputies, bringing the number of abstentions to 75. That is a significant force in the 630-member lower house, and there has been speculation that the MPs would merge into a single party.

Abstaining "is quite enough to signal that this is a major problem in Berlusconi's majority. What is going to happen next is very difficult to foretell," said Giovanni Orsina, political science professor at Rome's LUISS university.

"Maybe they will still find a way to work together," he said, "or maybe their roads are going to get more and more separated, and this means that there is a possibility ... of an early dissolution of parliament and elections."

Mr Berlusconi's spectacular split with Mr Fini played out with venomous accusations on both sides. Mr Fini, currently serving as speaker of the lower house, had been an ally since Mr Berlusconi's entry into politics 16 years ago and is the co-founder of the People of Freedom party.

The two had bickered for months on a number of issues, most notably morality in politics in the wake of scandals hitting coalition members.