Lawmakers supporting Silvio Berlusconi abstained from two confidence votes in Parliament yesterday in a muscle-flexing exercise that threatened to bring down the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti.
Berlusconi and his People of Freedom (PDL) party have so far supported Monti’s government but the three-time prime minister has become increasingly critical of the tax rises and austerity measures.
“We have decided to abstain on the confidence vote to highlight our highly critical position of his economic policy,” Fabrizio Cicchitto, leader of the PDL in Parliament, told reporters.
Financial markets reacted nervously, with the differential between yields on benchmark Italian and German 10-year bonds widening to 327 points after falling to below 300 earlier in the week.
“This is a clear signal that we don’t like the way the economy is going,” PDL head Angelino Alfano said.
“If we had wanted to bring them down, we could have with a vote of no confidence in the Government,” he added.
The stock market fell around 1.5 per cent before recovering after President Giorgio Napolitano stepped in, warning politicians against provoking a “convulsive conclusion” to the legislature.
The PDL’s abstentions in upper and lower house votes yesterday were symbolic but not sufficient to bring down the Government. PDL lawmakers could bring down Monti by voting against the government.
Berlusconi stepped down in November 2011 following a parliamentary revolt and a wave of financial market panic, as well as mounting legal troubles.
His replacement Monti, a former high-flying European commissioner, was installed as the head of an unelected technocratic government by a vote in parliament that helped save Italy from bankruptcy.
Berlusconi retreated from frontline politics but has repeatedly hinted he may return to the fray and lead his supporters into next year’s elections.
“I am being assailed by requests to return to the field as soon as possible,” Berlusconi said in a statement after a meeting of party leaders.
“Italy today is on the edge of a cliff. I cannot allow this,” he said, adding: “The situation now is far worse than when I left office last year.”