ITALY: Struggling Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces legal woes over sex scandal and battle over taxes

Record ID: 335018

  • Title: ITALY: Struggling Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces legal woes over sex scandal and battle over taxes
  • Date: 4th February 2011
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (FILE - JANUARY 18, 2011) (REUTERS) ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER SILVIO BERLUSCONI WALKING/PUTTING HIS HEAD IN HIS HANDS
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy, Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAEQB099U733ARD5EAUJJ6W2JGO
  • Story Text: The Italian prime minister faces a tough day on Thursday (February 3) as parliament prepares to vote on authorising searches of Silvio Berlusconi's personnel in connection with a sex scandal. In addition, a decision will be made on fiscal federalism, which could split the government.
    The 74-year-old premier has resisted calls to resign over a sex scandal that has dominated headlines and made a household name out of "Ruby", the teenaged nightclub dancer he is alleged to have paid for sex while she was under the legal age.
    Less spectacular, but potentially just as serious for the future of the government, is a standoff over proposed tax changes that are part of regional tax reforms close to the heart of Berlusconi's coalition partners in the Northern League.
    Leader of the Northern League Umberto Bossi has said that, if the fiscal changes are not made, his party should move for elections straight away.
    Headlines in Thursday's newspapers ran: "Federalism, Bossi threatens a crisis."
    Despite the media interest in the sex scandal involving the prime minister, a political commentator from Italy's largest newspaper, Corriere Della Sera, Maurizio Caprara, said the result on fiscal federalism would be more important to Berlusconi.
    "Headlines will be probably more on the Ruby case but politically it's most important to understand if the Northern League is interested in this kind of nervous stability or a kind of electoral examination," Caprara said.
    The so-called fiscal federalism reforms, intended to give more tax and spending powers to local governments, are the central goal of the League, which has promised a deal to its supporters in the prosperous cities and regions of the north.
    Even though the call for Berlusconi to resign is growing, senior officials in his People of Freedom (PDL) party have rallied behind him, strenuously defending his right to privacy and saying there is no one else who could lead the country.
    "There is no alternative to this government and this prime minister," said PDL parliamentarian Mario Landolfi.
    "The only alternative to the prime minister is the 'wild bunch', the union among forces which are very different from each other - in their history, in their political projects, in their ideas - who would join together only to be against Berlusconi," Landolfi said.
    "Erections Now!" posters have begun appearing around the country, as opposition forces begin to use a sense of humour as they step up their campaign to demand the prime minister's resignation.
    Signatures are being collected in a petition organised by the opposition Democratic Party (PD) in order for people to call for Berlusconi to go.
    "We have a real disaster as a Prime Minister," said Democratic Party parliamentarian Sandra Bonsanti.
    "Many people are angry, many people don't know what to do. And so even just putting their signature under a text that says 'that's enough, please go, you have to go! This is enough!' That makes them feel better. They want to participate more and do something for their country," Bonsanti said.
    Italians are fed up about hearing the daily stories coming out of the sex scandal. Most are more concerned that the government is not putting through much-needed reforms in order for Italy to remain competitive in an international market.
    "We are not very interested in the life of Berlusconi. We care more about the fiscal reform," said Rome resident Domenico Cerasi.
    "We want the reforms and don't care about peeping through the keyhole into Berlusconi's life," he said.
    Another passer-by, Maria Pia Coletta, was very clear which was more important to her.
    "Fiscal federalism, the problems of the justice system and to re-start Italy's economy. I really don't care about Berlusconi's private life," Coletta said.
    Later on Thursday, after the vote on taxes, the lower chamber is due to vote on whether to authorise magistrates to search the offices of Berlusconi's accountant, Giuseppe Spinelli.
    Spinelli is suspected of handling payments to the varied cast of young women prosecutors say received bundles of cash and jewellery and, in some cases, free housing from Berlusconi.
    While the result of the vote may be more symbolic than practical, it may be a sign of whether the Ruby scandal has weakened the government's already fragile hold on parliament.
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