Post date: Dec 12, 2010 2:43:7 PM
Italy prepares for a confidence vote on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government -- and it could trigger his fall from office.
ITALY-POLITICS PREVIEW - Many things in Italy have remained unchanged for decades -- the white-gloved warden still guides traffic through the plazza as if the director of a ballet.
But the same cannot be said of Italian politics.
On December 14 a confidence vote will take place in parliament which will determine whether Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has enough support to stay in power.
A recession, sex scandals, and political infighting have marred his third term -- just two and a half years after a landslide victory.Popular opposition leader Antonio Di Pietro says Berlusconi has humiliated Italy and is no longer fit to govern.
(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) LEADER OF THE ITALY OF VALUES OPPOSITION PARTY, ANTONIO DI PIETRO, SAYING:
"We hope and we are working towards this end, that on December 14 Berlusconi will not pass the confidence vote because he has humiliated Italian institutions and has brought the Italian economy to its knees, and he also has ruined the credibility of this country."
But at 74, Berlusconi is still a powerful political fighter, and a weak centre-left opposition means he could bounce back yet again.
One political analyst says even if he loses the vote he may not be gone for good.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) POLITICAL ANALYST PROFESSOR, JAMES WALSTON, SAYING:
"There are various possibilities. One is that Berlusconi loses in the lower house, he will almost certainly win in the upper house, and that he has to resign and that is the most likely scenario. In which case we will either have another government, possibly even with him leading it but with a wider coalition, or we will have another government with a different coalition, broader. Or if they can't get a government together, then we will go to elections, probably in spring."
Berlusconi has dominated Italian politics for the last 16 years -- and experts agree he could quite possibly win another election if it were to take place.
Travis Brecher, Reuters