Italy's opposition has attacked Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for promising a revolutionary elimination of property taxes, branding it as an impossible dream that would leave towns and cities bankrupt.
Italy's opposition leader Romano Prodi appears on a screen set up in a piazza by opposition supporters, as he takes part in a live television debate against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
Mr Berlusconi's shock announcement came with only seconds left to go on a nationally televised debate last night against rival Romano Prodi, who could not respond because time ran out.
Some 12 million people watched the debate, in which the opponents tried to sway undecided voters ahead of the elections next weekend. Some 16 million watched the first debate in March.
"He made the tax cut promise in such a demagogic way," said Piero Fassino, head of the largest party in Mr Prodi's center-left coalition.
"But today, Berlusconi owes an explanation to 8,000 mayors who want to know where money will come from for public services - day care, the elderly, road works - everything now financed by the property tax," Mr Fassino said.
Mr Berlusconi promised that Italians will no longer have to pay property tax, known as ICI, on their primary residences. The tax on primary residences currently takes in some €2.3 billion, which goes directly to towns to finance public services.
Antonio Di Pietro, a former graft-busting magistrate who is now a center-left politician, said Mr Berlusconi was "desperately trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat" because he was behind in the polls.
Mr Prodi said of Mr Berlusconi after the debate: "Perhaps he plans to print paper money."
Most mainstream Italian newspapers judged the debate, the last one before the elections, a draw. Because of Italy's rigid campaign laws, opinion polls on the outcome of the debate were banned.
Since the first TV match last month, Mr Berlusconi has managed to regain the initiative thanks to a relentless attack on Mr Prodi's fiscal plans, accusing his rival of planning a wave of tax hikes that would devastate Italy's middle classes.
Mr Prodi, a former president of the European Commission, denied such plans but complained that if he won election his government would inherit a financial mess.
The last surveys released before a polling ban came into force ten days ago put Mr Prodi's bloc between 3.5 and 5.0 percentage points ahead.