FOR THE third time in the last year Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government will face a confidence vote just three days after approval of the 2010 State balance sheet was defeated.
In the wake of Tuesday evening’s defeat, Italian president Giorgio Napolitano questioned the solidity of the government’s parliamentary majority and its ability to implement measures “not just in relation to Italy’s most urgent problems, but also in relation to our European obligations and commitments”.
In recent months, Mr Berlusconi’s government has been frustrated in routine parliamentary votes. Last month, it was defeated five times on the same day in the lower house on environmental issues. And on at least three occasions in June and July it was defeated in both houses of parliament.
What makes this setback different is that the bilancio, or budget vote, has a constitutional significance. Many commentators argue that the failure to have the balance sheet approved is equivalent to a vote of “no confidence”. In February 1998, for example, Christian Democrat prime minister Giovanni Goria resigned after his government had been beaten in a series of secret ballot votes on the bilancio.
Given that much media speculation in recent weeks has suggested that elements within Mr Berlusconi’s own People of Freedom (PDL) party – concerned by his handling of the economy – want the prime minister to resign, many wondered if Tuesday’s “incident” was merely the first step in an elaborate heave. Those suspicions took root when it emerged that among those who had failed to vote for the government were minister for the economy Giulio Tremonti, long at loggerheads with Mr Berlusconi, and leader of the Northern League senator Umberto Bossi.
Government loyalists were quick to reject this interpretation of events, arguing that the absences were easily explained. They said Mr Tremonti had been late because he had attended a funeral, while Mr Bossi had been distracted by journalists.
In tomorrow’s vote, as in similar votes in September and December 2010, Mr Berlusconi will be called upon to prove he still has the numbers to steer his government to the end of its mandate in 2013. The Berlusconi parliamentary majority has been a matter of some speculation since his one-time close ally, Gianfranco Fini, the former leader of Alleanza Nazionale, defected last autumn.
The Italian prime minister is scheduled to address parliament today where he may argue that a change of government would not be in Italy’s or Europe’s best interests.
Opposition forces, however, yet again called on him to resign, claiming that Tuesday’s defeat proves that he does not have a workable parliamentary majority.
“My impression is that they are just trying to drag it out for a few months and that we will be going to the polls next spring,” said former centre-left prime minister Massimo D’Alema.