Berlusconi backs Italian government in confidence vote
(Vatican Radio) Italian Premier Enrico Letta has won a Senate confidence vote after
former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi performed a political climbdown and decided
to support the coalition government. The vote was called after Berlusconi urged 5
ministers in his People of Freedom Party to leave the government. Berlusconi's
party has been thrown into chaos, with several lawmakers and his closest ally Angelino
Alfano openly defying him and saying they would support the administration. Lydia
O’Kane spoke to Professor of International Relations at the American University of
Rome, James Walston about this latest political crisis who says, it is a clear sign
that Silvio Berlusconi’s power base is waning. “I think this is even more proof of
desperation on Berlusconi’s part.” He also says there is a growing recognition among
Italian politicians of the need to get the country back on its feet. Earlier on
Wednesday Premier Enrico Letta appealed for his government's survival ahead of the
vote. In a speech to the Senate, Letta hailed his 5-month-old government's successes
and outlined his agenda to revive Italy's sluggish economy and turnaround its record
unemployment. Berlusconi ordered his ministers to leave the government in protest
at a rise in Italy's sales tax or IVA. Prime Minister Letta had accused him of
using the issue as an “alibi” for his own personal interests. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s
interview with James Walston