Berlusconi allies deserting him in bid to collapse Italy gov’t, rare rebuke to his authority
ROME – Several of ex-Premier Berlusconi’s top aides are defying him in his bid to collapse Italy’s coalition government, a rare challenge to his authority.
Carlo Giovanardi, a longtime stalwart, told reporters Tuesday on the eve of a showdown in Parliament that more than 40 of Berlusconi’s centre-right lawmakers will vote to keep Premier Enrico Letta’s five-month-old government afloat. That might ensure centre-left leader Letta wins any confidence vote pegged to the government’s survival.
Angry that centre-left senators will vote soon to strip him of his Senate seat because of his tax-fraud conviction, Berlusconi yanked his ministers from the government last week. But Berlusconi’s top aide, Angelino Alfano, urged his party Tuesday to back Letta.
Pressure is building on the 77-year-old media mogul to drop his bid to sabotage Letta.
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