Berlusconi announces resignation

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/209097.html

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said that he intends to resign after key economic reforms have been approved.

Berlusconi made the announcement on Tuesday, following a key parliamentary vote on public finance that he won without gaining the absolute majority of 316 seats, which is a precondition for the approval of future budgets, the state-run BBC reported.

In the budget vote, 308 MPs supported Berlusconi and one abstained, but 320 others - the entire opposition - did not vote.

The European Union has been putting pressure on Italy to carry out long-promised major economic reforms in order to improve its financial situation.

There is growing fear among EU leaders that Italy might be drawn into the crisis that has already claimed Greece, Ireland, and Portugal.

Italy faces a nearly two-trillion-euro debt that is 120 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. A 60-billion-euro austerity package to balance the budget by 2013 was passed in August.

“Once this engagement is fulfilled, the prime minister will hand in his mandate to the head of state, who will proceed with appropriate consultations, paying close attention to the positions and proposals of all political forces,” President Giorgio Napolitano said in a statement.

Berlusconi had shown “his awareness of the implications of the results of today's vote” as well as “concern for the urgent need to give prompt answers to the expectations of European partners,” Napolitano added.

The 75-year-old prime minister's popularity rating recently slipped to a record low of 22 percent as his team was unable to address the fiscal crisis and he faced legal battles over bribery, tax fraud, abuse of power, and sexual relations with a 17-year-old prostitute.

ECB warns Italy over austerity plan

Italian Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197378.html

The European Central Bank (ECB) has urged Italy to promptly implement austerity measures adopted earlier, amid worries over the country's credit worthiness.

"The ECB and euro system as a whole consider the measures announced by the government…extremely important in order to rapidly diminish the public deficit of Italy and improve the flexibility of the Italian economy," Reuters quoted ECB President Jean Claude Trichet as saying.

"It is essential that the targets announced to cut the deficit will be fully confirmed and implemented. This is absolutely decisive to consolidate and reinforce the quality and the credibility of the Italian strategy and its creditworthiness," he added.

Despite Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's austerity plan unveiled few weeks ago, the Italian government has failed to adopt the measures, believing that key measures such as a pension overhaul and a wealth tax should be scrapped.

The European Central Bank has so far spent EUR 41.6 billion on buying the Italian and Spanish bonds in an attempt to stop the downward pressure on their price.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said his government would urge the ECB to continue buying bonds for the country.

Italy's budget deficit currently stands at 3.8 percent of the country's GDP. The Italian government introduced a EUR 48-billion austerity package in July to balance its budget.

Earlier, Berlusconi promised to fast forward the plan and get the budget into balance by 2013.

So far, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have received bailout packages from the European Union. There are growing fears that Italy may be next in line to eclipse the previous bailouts and further undermine the Euro.

Italy introduces additional €45.5 billion cuts

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193688.html

Rome has approved a new emergency 45.5-billion-euro austerity plan in response to demands by the European Central Bank (ECB) to balance Italy's budget by 2013.

The Italian government approved the emergency package in line with the ECB request on Friday, despite strong disagreement and resistance from local government officials who maintain that new austerity measures "will be unjust and damaging to economic growth," AFP reported.

The Cabinet approved 20 billion euros in cuts for 2012 and another 25.5 billion euros for 2013.

The package will impose measures in addition to the 48-billion-euro austerity package introduced in July to balance the budget.

"It wasn't easy. We're personally pained to have taken these measures, but we are satisfied," said Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a news conference following heated talks with the opposition, regional governors and big city mayors.

"Our hearts are bleeding. This government had bragged that it never put its hands in the pockets of Italians but the world situation changed," added Berlusconi, insisting that the emergency measures were "fair."

The package includes an extraordinary "solidarity" tax for high-earners that earn over 90,000 euros a year, according to which they have to pay an additional five-percent income tax for the next two years. Those earning over 150,000 euros a year are to pay an additional 10-percent tax on their income.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti assured Italians that there were "no cuts for schools - whose services took a hit in previous cuts - or the national health system, which was hit in austerity measures approved by lawmakers in July."

Tremonti added that the approved measures "will cut the budget deficit to 1.4 percent of the gross domestic product in 2012 and balance the budget in 2013."

Italy's budget deficit currently stands at 3.8 percent of the country's GDP.

The austerity package will have to gain final passage by Italy's parliament

Italy unions protest austerity plan

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/193384.html

Italian trade unionists have protested against the government's planned austerity measures amid budget talks between Premier Silvio Berlusconi and trade union representatives.

Trade unions in Italy expressed their worries that the government's tougher economic measures might heavily cut down on pensions, salaries and social welfare services.

“We don't want to pay for this crisis. It must be paid for by those who caused it, the banks and this government that aims to privatize everything,” Vincenzo Buttigilieri, a trade union representative, told Press TV on Wednesday.

This comes as Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and senior cabinet members have held budget talks with representatives from trade unions and the Employers Association.

The government has introduced a 68-billion-dollar austerity package aimed at tackling the country's financial crisis.

Italy has been under mounting pressure from EU leaders to contain its widening budget shortfall.

Italian trade unions have threatened to stage a general strike should the government go ahead with its planned austerity measures.

Berlusconi, however, says urgent actions are needed in order to shield Italy from the risk of a debt crisis currently looming over Europe.

Reports indicate that Milan Stock Exchange closed with heavy losses on Wednesday as the main FTSE Mib stock index was sharply down 6.65 percent to 14,676 points, the lowest since March 2009.

Berlusconi rules out early elections

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/192727.html

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has ruled out the possibility of early elections aimed at soothing the market panic that grips the European country amid its financial crisis.

"This has absolutely not been talked about," Berlusconi said, referring to a possibility of early elections in 2012, adding that it "has never been an option," Reuters reported.

The Italian premier also rejected any Spanish-style policy, based on which Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called for an early election in 2012 to tackle economic crisis in his country.

Earlier, Italian leaders of business and trade unions called on Berlusconi to calm the market turmoil that has been threatening to plunge the country into a financial crisis.

"The situation is grave. It must be confronted with maximum determination and without excuses or shortcuts," representatives of 36 business and trade union organizations said in a statement following their Thursday meeting with Berlusconi in Rome.

Italian opposition Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani also said, "Italy has a political problem, and if this problem is not resolved, it will burn through any sacrifices Italians make."

The Italian economy, the third largest in Europe, grew just 0.1 percent in the first quarter of the year.

On Tuesday, Italian sovereign debt risk premiums soared to eurozone record highs. Following the news, stock markets in Italy plunged by nearly three percent.

So far, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have already received bailout packages from the European Union.

There are growing fears that Italy may be next in line to eclipse the previous bailouts and further undermine the euro.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has rejected the possibility of a debt rescue plan for Spain and Italy.

Court rejects Berlusconi's objections

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/189717.html

An Italian court has rejected submissions by the defense team of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, charged with abuse of power and sex-related crimes.

The court rejected the claims by the lawyers of the 74-year-old Italian premier, who challenged the Milan court's right to hear the case, AFP reported.

Berlusconi's defense team presented 16 preliminary complaints, and argued that the abuse of power charge against Berlusconi, which carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison, should be considered by a special court for ministers, and sex-related charges should be heard by a court outside Milan.

Judge Giulia Turri dismissed the defense motions one by one in the hearing session attended by neither Berlusconi nor the woman at the center of the accusations.

The Italian premier is accused of paying for sex with a Moroccan-born teenager, nicknamed Ruby, at a series of wild dinner parties held at his private villa in the north of Italy.

He is also accused of abusing his power to let the girl get out of police custody in 2010.

"The court considers itself to be competent," the ruling said.

The court set the date for the next hearing for sex crime case on September 19, and the next hearing for the power charge case has been set for October 3.

The Italian prime minister has not made any court appearances since May 16.

Berlusconi told a local newspaper on July 8 that he would not run again when his term finishes in 2013 and named the country's justice minister as his successor.

Italian cabinet approves austerity plan

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186991.html

The Italian cabinet has adopted an austerity plan aimed at protecting the country from Greek debt crisis and avoiding the budget deficit in 2014.

The measure approved on Thursday, which includes a tax hike on financial transactions, a cut in ministers' pay and an extension of the current freeze on public sector salaries and hiring, aims to save EUR 47 billion and reassure investors, the Press TV correspondent in Rome reports.

The budget cuts of EUR 47 billion will be implemented over 4 years, EUR 1.5 billion this year, EUR 5.5 billion next year, EUR 20 billion in 2013, and another EUR 20.5 billion in 2014, the government spokesman announced in a press conference on Thursday.

The government is also expected to reduce income tax and crack down on tax exemptions and evasion.

Parliament approval is needed before the austerity plan takes effect.

Moody's and Standard & Poor's rating agencies have warned the country's credit rating could be downgraded because of its inability to pass reforms to bring down its debt mountain and the country's low growth rate, unless Rome takes proper measures to cut its public deficit.

By 2013, there will probably be a new government which will face the EUR 40 billion budget cuts in 2013 and 2014, which will certainly harm a lot of families in Italy.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has said that it is going to reduce the budget of government ministries and local authorities plus a reduction in tax breaks for companies and families, but there will be no cuts on education, research and culture.

The budget is the latest test for Berlusconi, who suffered heavy defeats in local elections and four referendums over the last month. His approval ratings have been sinking over a series of corruption and sex scandals, and a stagnant economy.

'Berlusconi government may collapse'

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) and Northern League leader Umberto Bossi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/186800.html

Italy's Northern League political party leader says Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government risked collapsing over an austerity budget worth nearly EUR 40 billion (USD 57.6 billion).

Umberto Bossi, whose political party is Berlusconi's main coalition ally, says the Northern League may not support the 2012 budget.

Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti has reportedly come under pressure by the ruling coalition to resign over his budget measures.

Berlusconi met with coalition leaders on Tuesday to gain political agreement on the country's annual budget, which includes cuts to ministry budgets, funding for town councils and healthcare, Reuters reported.

Italy, which has found itself in a similar situation as Greece, must come up with EUR 40 billion in budget cuts by 2014 in order to comply with eurozone regulations.

The country's debt burden is currently at 120 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is twice the eurozone limit but still better than other members like Greece.

Analysts believe Berlusconi's unpopularity will trigger fierce protests in the face of the austerity measures and can undermine the premier's government entirely.

MPs give Berlusconi lift after losses

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185723.html

The government of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a confidence vote on a bill widely seen as a test of the stability of his coalition।

The bill, adopted by 317 votes to 293 in the lower house of parliament on Tuesday, includes tax breaks and investment incentives।

"These are the numbers of an absolute majority," said Justice Minister Angelino Alfano, who has just been named the new secretary of Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party.

"We are satisfied with the umpteenth indication of our consistency that shows our strength," he added.

Berlusconi told lawmakers after winning the confidence vote that his government should remain in power until its five-year term ends in 2013 to "avoid ending up like other European countries which are bleeding."

The victory in the confidence vote will give Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party a slight boost after the embattled premier suffered defeats in crucial local elections and a round of referendums in less than a month.

Among other things, the referendums would have approved a legal immunity law designed to keep Berlusconi out of court.

Over the years, the 74-year-old has faced a plethora of allegations of criminal activity, including mafia involvement, corruption, and bribery of police officers, lawyers, and judges

Berlusconi entangled in political rift

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185060.html

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is facing a political rift in his coalition government days after he suffered a referendum humiliation.

The Italian premier's outspoken ally, the Northern League, has withdrawn earlier support for Berlusconi by pressing him to cut tax and relocate two ministries from Rome to Milan, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The tax cut proposal is aimed at restoring popularity for Berlusconi's government, which according to a recent survey conducted by Ipr Marketing firm and published by Italy's Left-leaning daily, La Repubblica, has hit a low of 29 percent.

Experts believe the risk of a split between the Northern League and the ruling People of Freedom party could lead to early elections in the country.

“At the moment Berlusconi needs the League, because without the League we don't have a majority; we go to elections, and going to elections now for Berlusconi would be a disaster,” Giovanni Orsina, a professor of political sciences at LUISS University in Rome said.

Berlusconi needs the support of the Northern League more than the League is in need of the premier's backing, Orsina added.

The Northern League will hold a meeting in Pontida this weekend to discuss the funding details for the government's upcoming fiscal reform which is aimed at winning back public support.

Berlusconi faced another embarrassment earlier this week, following the local election defeat, after 57 percent of voters turned out in a referendum to reject four government's proposals.

The voters were opposed to the government's plans to return to nuclear power as well as a law that would give legal immunity to the premier who is already a defendant in three trials involving allegations of bribery, fraud and paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl.

Berlusconi, who narrowly survived a confidence vote in December, will face another parliament vote on June 21.

Berlusconi walks out of fraud court

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174272.html

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has walked out of a court room during his tax fraud trial, saying the hearing was “a waste of time.”

In an open court on Monday, about two and a half hours after the hearing started, Berlusconi, who was sitting at the front row with his lawyer, stepped out of the court room, accusing prosecutors of having no case against him.

"I've spent a surreal morning, a paradoxical waste of time and a waste of resources," Berlusconi told reporters inside before leaving.

"There is no proof, no documents, no testimony, no money trail that supports the prosecutors' thesis."

Monday's trial centered on charges that Berlusconi's Mediaset broadcasting empire has bought TV and film rights at inflated prices through offshore front companies, leaving the difference to be skimmed off to avoid tax and create secret slush funds.

Both Mediaset and Berlusconi deny the charges and the prime minister's lawyers, who attended a related hearing on March 28, said that he would be in the Milan court where judges are expected to question some defense witnesses.

"These charges are laughable, unfounded and demented," Berlusconi said, adding that the charges were "the invention of the public prosecutor."

The Mediaset trial is one of a related series of three trials, all linked to the sale of television and film rights dating back to the 1990s.

The case is not related to Berlusconi's sex scandal in which the prime minister is accused of paying for sex with a dancer when she was under the age of 18.

Berlusconi, who has faced at least a dozen trials over the years, denies all charges against him and says he has been victimized by leftist magistrates who are using the legal system to bring him down.

Berlusconi ordered to stand trial

Judge says Italian PM will face fast-track trial over claims he paid for underage sex and abused power to cover it up



Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/02/201121510218280935.html

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, has been ordered to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and then used his political position to try and cover it up.

Cristina Di Censo, a Milan judge, handed down the indictment on Tuesday. The trial is set to begin on April 6.

The 74-year-old billionaire has denied the charges against him, saying they are politically motivated. However, his lawyers on Tuesday said they "didn't expect anything else," in response to the news.

Prosecutors bringing the case against Berlusconi allege he paid for sex with a "significant number" of young women including a Moroccan dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer, who was 17 at the time.

The premier is also accused of using his influence to free her from custody after being arrested on suspicion of an unrelated theft.

A group of Milan judges, who conducted an investigation into the claims before seeking trial, say the premier acted in fear that her detention would have revealed her relationship to him.

But Berlusconi and Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, have both denied having sex, and the premier's supporters say he helped release her from jail because he believed she was a relative of Hosni Mubarak, the recently ousted Egyptian president.

Biggest blow

Tuesday's development is the biggest blow yet to the embattled prime minister, who is resisting calls to step down amid a growing number of scandals and political problems.

Earlier this week, thousands of women rallied around the country against the prime minister, saying the alleged scandals were humiliating.

The prime minister has also come under pressure from the Vatican and Confindustria, Italy's main business lobby.

Tim Friend, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rome, said many people in Italy "are starting to ask if this is the beginning of the end for their prime minister".

"This [impending court case] is the worst possible news for Berlusconi, Italy's longest-serving post-war leader. He has a long history of accusations against him including sex scandals and corruption," he said.

Berlusconi has also been made politically vulnerable following a split with a former ally, and last month a court partially removed his right to political immunity.

Tuesday's decision suggests that Di Censo believes that there is sufficient evidence to subject Berlusconi to an immediate trial, which skips the preliminary hearing stage.

But his lawyers have previously accused the Milan court of "violating the constitution", saying Berlusconi could only be tried in a special court for members of parliament.

Our correspondent said in theory the Italian leader could face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.

"This looks as though the judge has decided on a fast-track trial.

"Berlusconi will be marshalling his defences, I think he will say some of this evidence against him was acquired through phone taps, through interceptions and he might challenge it in that way," he said.

Berlusconi refuses to step down

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/165188.html

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has announced he will not step down and slammed the demonstrations against him over his sex scandals.

On Sunday, thousands of Italian women took to the streets across the country to call on Berlusconi to resign over his sex scandals, specifically the underage prostitution scandal.

The 74-year-old told his Canale 5 network on Monday that he has never disrespected women, Reuters reported.

“All women who have had the opportunity to get to know me, know how much I respect them. I have always behaved and I always behave with great care and great respect, both in my companies and in my government,” he said.

The prime minister has denied the allegations against him, but his manner of defending himself has offended many.

In an interview last year, Berlusconi stated, "I have never paid a woman. I have never seen the satisfaction that there could be in it without the pleasure of conquest."

The Sunday protest organizers -- actresses Francesca and Cristina Comencini -- say that Berlusconi has damaged women's dignity.

"Berlusconi has long shown a violent contempt for women with his misogynist remarks," Francesca Comencini said.

The demonstration is one of many that have taken place over the weekend and in previous months, as Italians continue their call for Berlusconi to resign.

Berlusconi said the government would not resign over the affair, potentially opening the way for new elections.

“The Milan prosecutors' office and the media in contrast has trampled on the dignity of my guests, exposing them to public scorn without any reason or regard for them and trampling on the truth," Berlusconi said.

Reports revealed that he had been using a bank account in Milan to make payments to showgirls and models that attended parties at his mansion on the outskirts of the city.

The Italian prime minister has resisted calls to quit over the latest scandal, in which he is accused of having sexual relations with an underage Moroccan girl, Karima El Mahroug, also known in the media as "Ruby the Heart-Stealer,”

Anti-Berlusconi protest held in Italy

Demonstrators stand in front of police during a protest against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Arcore, near Milan

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164039.html

Hundreds of protesters have held a rally against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, calling for the scandal-hit premier to step down.

The protesters, some wearing masks of Berlusconi, chanted "Resign, resign!" at the gates of his private villa in the Milan suburb of Arcore, where he was spending the weekend, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

A small group of opponents clashed with police after they broke away from the main demonstration, and attempted to wade into a security cordon near Berlusconi's villa.

The demonstrators hurled bottles and other objects at a police line blocking them.

Some reports say that two protesters were arrested and several protesters and policemen were injured.

On Saturday, another rally was staged in a Milan sports stadium by thousands, including prominent Italian writers and intellectuals, urging their country's leader to resign.

Berlusconi has long been buffeted by allegations of corruption and sexual scandals related to his private life, including reports of wild parties at his villa and alleged encounters with prostitutes.

The 74-year-old premier is under investigation for his alleged paying for sex with a 17-year-old Moroccan dancer Karima El Mahrough last year at his Milan villa, which has become the focal point of investigation by Italian prosecutors.

The Italian politician is expected to suffer more setbacks this week as Milan prosecutors prepare to submit a request to a judge for a fast-track trial of the premier.

The judge will then have five days to decide, although the deadline could be extended by a few days.

Italy's court rejects PM immunity law

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/160025.html


Italy's top court has partially rejected a law that extended criminal prosecution immunity to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi while he is in office.

The decision by the Constitutional Court on Thursday allows individual judges to decide whether Berlusconi can be forced to face trial or not.

The judges can decide whether or not to accept excuses by the prime minister or members of his cabinet that they are unable to attend trials due to conflicts with official duties.

Berlusconi will no longer be able to automatically invoke a "legitimate impediment" claim exempting him and his ministers from appearing in court.

“The court's sentence has complicated things,” a parliamentarian in Berlusconi's People of Liberty party, Osvaldo Napoli, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in response to the new law.

“It has turned over to the subjective evaluation of judges, facts and issues that should have been cleared up with the strength of objectivity,” he added.

A Milan court, which has accused Berlusconi of paying USD 600,000 to a UK lawyer to lie under oath, now presents the greatest legal challenge to the prime minister.

In February 2009, the lawyer, David Mills, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for accepting a bribe from Berlusconi.

Italy senate approves education reforms

Students protest against the government-proposed education reforms which are being discussed in the Italian senate, in Rome, Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/156842.html


The Italian senate has approved controversial reforms in the education system proposed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a bid to tackle the country's public debt.

The reforms set forth by Berlusconi sparked mass demonstrations across Italy on Wednesday as students protested the cuts which are aimed at saving the country billions of dollars.

The protests followed last week's violent demonstrations triggered when the Italian prime minister survived a confidence-vote motion.

The reforms would cut the number of courses and faculties, reduce funding for grants and introduce non-academic university deans to the education system.

The bill was passed by 161 votes to 98 with six abstentions in the senate where Berlusconi and his political allies have a large majority.

President Giorgio Napolitano will now sign the bill into law.

Italy is currently spending less than 5 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on education which is much lower than many developed countries.

In Rome, protesters clash with police

Demonstrators fight with Italian police officers

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155509.html


Massive protests and violent clashes with police have been sparked in Italy's capital city, Rome, after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence vote.

Italian police faced off with masked protesters, who set cars and trash bins on fire and broke shop windows in Via del Corso, one of Rome's main streets, near Berlusconi's office as clouds of white tear gas engulfed the area, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

University and high school students as well as metal workers from various trade unions joined forces with hundreds of immigrants and people from local housing and food collectives in their massive protests against the government.

Meanwhile, police forces engaged in violent clashes with protesters, who were seen hurling stones at police and smashed banks windows, destroyed several cash machines and threw chairs in different parts of the turmoil-hit city of Rome.

The violence erupted after Berlusconi survived a crucial no-confidence vote with 314 lawmakers voting in his favor compared to 311 parliamentarians who voted against him in the 630-seat lower house.

According to police officials, at least 90 people, including 50 police officers, have been injured and more than 40 protesters have been taken into custody.

Before the vote, protesters were rubbing their hands at the prospect of a full-blown political defeat for the Italian leader at a time when he is dogged by a slew of scandals ranging from sexual misconduct and vote buying to corruption charges and failure to tackle the economic crisis.

Over the past weeks, Italians staged several demonstrations against belt-tightening fiscal austerity measures and university reforms introduced by the government in the wake of a deepening financial meltdown.

Berlusconi's popularity plummeted to below 40 percent in November, mainly due to his sexual misconduct, government's unpopular austerity package and series of internal strife within the center-right government.