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Berlusconi to face Senate confidence vote Thursday
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government will face a vote of confidence on Thursday in the Senate to determine whether it continues in power or falls, party leaders in the upper house said. The vote will show whether Berlusconi can still command a parliamentary majority after a centrist party pulled out of his coalition government last Friday, sparking a political crisis. If Berlusconi loses the vote, the government will fall, probably leading to a general election that could be held as soon as late June. Berlusconi will address both houses of parliament on Wednesday, a day ahead of the vote, to explain the confused political situation after he decided in a surprise move not to present a new government line-up to Italy's president on Monday. Berlusconi shocked his political allies, who believed he had agreed to resign temporarily to present a new cabinet to parliament -- a reshuffle demanded by the rebel Union of Christian Democrats party. Instead, Berlusconi told President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi he would let parliament decide whether his government should remain or fall. The crisis was sparked when Berlusconi's four-year-old government suffered heavy losses in regional elections two weeks ago, prompting coalition parties to call for major changes in the cabinet and a new policy programme. |
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