Poll shows Italian government approval slides
Tax amnesty possibly to blame
The approval rating for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government has fallen steadily in recent months, partly due to a controversial tax amnesty, but remains at a solid 44 per cent, a poll showed.
The survey, published on yesterday's Corriere della Sera newspaper, showed the government's popularity had declined from 54.1 per cent in January. Its ratings spiked briefly in May, in response to its handling of April's earthquake in central Italy, but have steadily fallen since then.
The ISPO poll showed around 70 per cent of Italians disapproved of the controversial tax amnesty approved by Parliament on October 2 as part of a raft of measures to respond to Italy's worst economic downturn since World War II.
The legislation allows Italians to repatriate undeclared funds held in foreign tax havens in return for a five per cent payment. It wipes the slate clean for the crime of false accounting, prompting criticism from opposition parties that it rewarded tax evaders and would benefit organised crime. The survey showed the conservative government's approval rating falling among its far-right Northern League coalition partners to 74 per cent, amid complaints of a lack of incisiveness by the executive.
"The government still enjoys a wide consensus today," wrote ISPO's Renato Mannheimer. "But, scrutinising the last months' data, one can't help but notice a rather consistent fall."
While some 20 per cent of opposition supporters had approved of the government's actions in January, by October 90 per cent of them were critical, the poll showed.
Backing for the government among voters of Mr Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL) party was steady at 94 per cent.
Opinion polls have shown Mr Berlusconi's own popularity ratings have declined after a summer of sex scandals. A survey by pollsters IPR published on October 15 showed the media mogul's support had fallen to 45 per cent from 62 per cent a year ago.