AS HE himself had predicted, Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday comfortably survived yet another parliamentary vote of confidence, with his centre-right government winning by 316 votes to 301.
This latest confidence vote, the 53rd since the government took office in May 2008, prompted radically contrasting reactions.
Mr Berlusconi and senior party figures were more than satisfied with a result that would suggest the prime minister has the parliamentary numbers to remain in office until the end of the legislature in 2013, despite internal dissent. Opposition forces, however, remain convinced that while Mr Berlusconi may have the numerical strength to win confidence votes, his government has neither the vision nor political will to govern Italy through the current economic crisis.
When Mr Berlusconi’s government won a crucial vote of confidence by just three votes last December, it did so to the echo of riots in the streets outside. Yesterday, the scenes repeated themselves, albeit in quieter mode, with 200 students protesting outside parliament. Many of the students, some of whom have camped out in front of the Bank of Italy in central Rome, will be taking part in an “Occupy Wall Street” protest in Rome today.
Speaking after yesterday’s vote, Mr Berlusconi said his government would next week present a package of growth incentive measures, intended to confront Italy’s current economic crisis.
Opposition figures remain sceptical about the efficacy of such measures, with many predicting a winter of social unrest. “So, he [Berlusconi] is pleased, is he? What can I say? If Berlusconi thinks that 316 votes today solve all his problems, then he is the last of the Mohicans,”said centrist UDC leader Pier Ferdinando Casini.