Berlusconi to seek confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, deprived of an absolute majority after a split in his parliamentary coalition, will seek a confidence vote next month, a leading member of his party said yesterday.

“In September, Berlusconi will present a (political) platform based on a number of issues. We hope we will get a majority that renews confidence in the government,” Fabrizio Cicchitto, who heads the Berlusconi party’s lawmakers in the lower House of Parliament, said in a statement.

“Either the government has the confidence and carries out its programme or we will go to the polls,” Mr Cicchitto said in a separate statement.

The programme, which Mr Berlusconi will draft this month, will include reforms of justice and the tax regime along with a devolution of power to regional governments and economic aid for the impoverished south of the country, Italian media reported.

Mr Berlusconi has reportedly not scheduled any long vacations in August and is expected to spend a good part of the month preparing the programme.

He last week lost his comfortable absolute majority in parliament when rebel deputies led by lower house speaker and once long-time ally Gianfranco Fini withdrew from his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party.