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