Berlusconi to address parliament for confidence vote
By Philip PullellaROME, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi, fighting for his political life and seeking to quell
an internal rebellion in his centre-right coalition, will ask
parliament on Thursday for a confidence vote that will allow him
to continue governing.Berlusconi, who is under pressure by Italy’s president as
well as the central bank governor to prove that he can deal with
the country’s myriad social and economic problems, is due to
address the lower house at about 0900 GMT.The confidence vote is expected to be held sometime on
Friday and Berlusconi will most likely win.But most analysts say he will also emerge so bruised that it
will be only a matter of months before a new crisis hits and
that the country will likely hold early elections next year, a
year before they are next scheduled.”It’s either counter-attack or die,” said Il Foglio, a
political broadsheet which reflects Berlusconi’s thinking.In his address, Berlusconi is expected to stress that there
is no alternative to his government, that a crisis now would be
irresponsible at a time when the economy is under huge pressure
from the markets, and that he intends to govern until 2013.Opposition parties have already announced that they will
boycott the speech but then return for the debate and vote
against Berlusconi on Friday.Berlusconi decided to address parliament after the coalition
— wracked by internal dissent — suffered a major embarrassment
when it failed to pass a routine budget provision on Tuesday.A number of centre-right deputies were absent for the vote,
a fact which infuriated Berlusconi and fed suspicions that some
dissenters stayed away to send a message to the prime minister
about the deep malaise within the coalition.INTERNAL CHALLENGESBerlusconi is facing internal challenges from a number of
ministers who are unhappy with the way he is running the
coalition and the damage his personal and judicial woes have
done to Italy’s reputation.The prime minister, whose current government was elected in
2008, said that the loss of Tuesday’s vote was just an
“accident” and that there was no reason to resign as the
opposition has demanded.President Giorgio Napolitano entered the fray on Wednesday
when he issued a statement expressing deep concern about the
viability of government and demanding a “credible response” to
Italy’s problems.Italy is also under pressure from Mario Draghi, the outgoing
Bank of Italy governor who will become the president of the
European Central Bank next month.In a speech on Wednesday night, Draghi said Italy had
already wasted too much time without reforming its economy and
unless it acted urgently, rising bond yields could nullify the
benefits from recent budget cuts.Yields on Italian government bonds are dangerously high
considering its massive public debt, because of investors’ lack
of confidence that Berlusconi’s government can take decisive
action and worries over Italy’s chronically sluggish growth.Ratings agency Fitch last week cut Italy’s credit rating by
one notch with a negative outlook, following a downgrade by
Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, underlining market concern over
the stability of its public finances and its weak growth.A 60-billion-euro austerity package to balance the budget by
2013 was passed last month only after weeks of hesitation and
delay, while the timetable for a decree to pass economic reforms
and approve the sale of state assets has slipped to Oct. 20.
