Nigeria Content Online

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence
motion on Tuesday that left his struggling centre-right government clinging to
power by a handful of votes.

The result reinforced Berlusconi’s reputation as one of the great survivors
of Italian politics but left him badly weakened, without the numbers in
parliament to ensure stability at a time of big economic challenges and a
menacing euro zone debt crisis.

Berlusconi’s survival was ensured with 314 votes against 311 in the lower
house of parliament.

Vote counting after an acrimonious debate was briefly interrupted by a
scuffle between deputies from rival camps.

Pier Luigi Bersani, head of the opposition Democratic Party, said
Berlusconi’s survival was a Pyrrhic victory.

“You, prime minister are no longer in a position to govern,” he
told parliament.

Riot police blocked off the centre of Rome and clashed with protesters who
threw firecrackers and paint bombs at the Senate and oranges at the economy
ministry.

After a year overshadowed by corruption and sex scandals and an acrimonious
split with former ally Gianfranco Fini that cost him a secure parliamentary
majority, the result offered at least a temporary lifeline to the 74-year-old
premier.

Berlusconi has repeatedly defied sceptics, shrugging off a string of gaffes
and scandals to win three elections and transform Italy’s political landscape
since gaining power for the first time in 1994, but he has polarised Italians.

Thousands of students, workers and other
government opponents staged other protests around the country on Tuesday.

Had Berlusconi lost in the lower house following a clear win in the Senate
earlier on Tuesday, he would have had to resign, potentially opening the way to
early elections more than two years before they are due in 2013.

The result was secured after a fevered campaign of back room deals, in which
opposition accusations of vote-buying and corruption have been answered by
fierce denials and counter-accusations of treachery.

“Go to elections”

With the vote out of the way, attention now switches to the concessions
Berlusconi will have to offer to centrists and rebels on the centre-right to
secure a longer term alliance.

On Monday, Berlusconi offered to open up his government to moderates in a
broad electoral pact but his coalition allies in the Northern League, who play
the role of government kingmakers, have already expressed scepticism.

“Either there are the conditions for continuing in government with a
solid majority or it would be better to go to an election,” Interior
Minister Roberto Maroni, a senior member of the Northern League told reporters.

Tuesday’s vote was closely watched by financial markets on high alert over
the euro zone debt crisis, and a prolonged period of doubt could turn the
spotlight on Italy’s strained public finances.

“Political uncertainty will only be dissipated in case of a clear
majority,” analysts from Italian bank UniCredit wrote in a research note before the key vote.

Italy has one of the heaviest public debt burdens in the world, at almost
120 percent of gross domestic product. But it has largely escaped the euro zone
debt storm thanks to tight control of spending and a conservative banking
system that avoided excess during the market boom.

Markets were reassured last week when the 2011 budget was passed in
parliament ahead of the votes, but the vote does not provide the secure
majority investors want to see and leaves the future of the government in
doubt.

Former anti-corruption judge Antonio Di Pietro, who now heads the opposition
Italy of Values party, said in parliament:

“Whatever the result of the vote you have bought, one thing is clear.
You (Berlusconi) do not have a political majority that would allow you to
govern.”

“Whether you like it or not, you have reached the end of the line for
your political experience,” he said.

REUTERS