Italian PM faces confidence vote
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces a vote of confidence in his country’s parliament today, a day after he presented his revised programme and vowed to lead his new government until a general election next year.
The vote in the lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, was expected in late afternoon. On Thursday, the prime minister will face a vote of confidence in the Senate.
Berlusconi is expected to win in both houses.
The premier formed a new Cabinet last week after he was forced to resign in a power struggle with his conservative allies following an embarrassing defeat in regional elections.
Speaking to the chamber on Tuesday, Berlusconi asked MPs for their support and vowed to use his remaining year in power to tackle Italy’s economic woes.
He renewed pledges to develop Italy’s poorer south, slash taxes for business and help families whose buying power he said had suffered since the introduction of the euro. He also said Italy’s 2005 deficit would stay within the limit set by the European Union’s Stability and Growth Pact – 3% of gross domestic product.
As Berlusconi was laying out plans for the rest of his term, Milan prosecutors requested indictments against him and 12 others on charges that include tax fraud and embezzlement, capping a four-year investigation into the premier’s media empire.
Berlusconi has always denied any wrongdoing, saying he is a victim of left-leaning prosecutors.
One of his lawyers, Niccolo Ghedini, has said Berlusconi resigned from the management of his media empire in 1993, before the alleged offences took place.
