EMBATTLED PRIME minister Silvio Berlusconi continued to defy those critics and political opponents who have called for his resignation in the wake of his involvement in the “Rubygate” sex scandal, vowing to remain in office.
Speaking via telephone to a Milan meeting of his People of Freedom Party (PDL) on Saturday, Mr Berlusconi vehemently argued that he was the victim of persecution by a politicised judiciary, saying: “We will not lie down, rather we will react to this aggression.
“I have been subjected to phone-taps and I have been monitored. The phone taps were not about finding evidence of crimes but rather to construct theorems . . . What we are looking at here is an attempt to modify the political balance of the country, once again . . . through an incorrect and political use of the judiciary.”
As he had anticipated, the prime minister on Saturday failed to present himself for an audience with the Milan magistrates who are investigating him on charges of “abuse of public office” and “exploitation of underage prostitution” in relation to parties held in his private residences.
Mr Berlusconi (74) argues that the Milan magistrates have no jurisdiction on the case but that rather, if he has a case to answer, he should answer it in front of a special court of ministers.
Despite Mr Berlusconi’s vigorous self-defence, widely echoed by PDL exponents, the findings of recent opinion polls would indicate not everyone is convinced.
A poll published by Milan daily Corriere Della Sera claims that 49 per cent of Italians would like him to resign, while 45 per cent felt he could remain in office.
Another poll by TV programme Ballarò claims that 79 per cent of Italians believe that Mr Berlusconi should present himself for questioning by the Milan prosecutors.
In a further sign of the mounting tension prompted by “Rubygate”, Mr Berlusconi’s former ally, the speaker of the lower house Gianfranco Fini, on Saturday called on the prime minister to resign.
Mr Fini said his refusal to present himself in front of the public prosecutors was “a clear request for total impunity”.
Both Mr Fini’s new FLI party and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) have opened petitions, calling for the resignation of Mr Berlusconi.
The PD aims to gather 10 million such signatures.