Silvio all at sea over rival
Coalition cracking as finance minister threatens to resign over tax cut row
Monday October 26 2009
Silvio Berlusconi was struggling yesterday to mend cracks in his troubled centre-right coalition after Italy's internationally respected finance minister threatened to resign.
Giulio Tremonti opposes tax cuts proposed by the populist prime minister, who is still grappling with the fallout from sex scandals and running battles with the press and judiciary.
Tensions have also risen as a result of Mr Berlusconi increasingly making policy without reference to cabinet colleagues.
The two men were reported to have patched things up during a weekend meeting at Mr Berlusconi's mansion near Milan. However, a minister for the anti-immigrant Northern League, a coalition party, said the government was only standing thanks to an intervention by the party's leader.
The Italian budget deficit is expected to reach 5.3pc of GDP this year, well above the European Union 3pc ceiling. Mr Tremonti has indicated that Italy cannot afford to loosen up spending or adopt stimulus measures taken by western governments to deal with the global financial crisis. Last week he backed "jobs for life", contradicting centre-right moves towards labour mobility.
Northern League leader Umberto Bossi, who is close to Mr Tremonti, said he had intervened to stop him quitting.
Mr Tremonti was enraged when Mr Berlusconi announced during a visit last week to Russia to attend the birthday party of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he was abolishing an unpopular business tax used to fund healthcare.
However, coalition sources said the row had only been shelved. "There is an attempt to get rid of Tremonti, but I am protecting him," Mr Bossi said.
Roberto Calderoli, a Northern League minister, said: "The government is still standing only thanks to Bossi." Mr Bossi's intervention reinforces his growing grip over Mr Berlusconi's future. Mr Tremonti is reported to have demanded the post of deputy prime minister.
Gianfranco Fini, the speaker of the lower house and co-founder of the ruling People of Liberty (PdL) party, said this would mark "the end of Berlusconi-ism", with "disastrous consequences" for the coalition.
Mr Berlusconi avoided a showdown with Mr Tremonti last Friday by cancelling a cabinet meeting, saying he had been delayed by a snowstorm.
Meanwhile, supporters of the centre-left Democratic Party, Italy's main opposition party, voted to choose a new leader.
Balloting was overshadowed by the resignation of Piero Marrazzo, the centre-left governor of Lazio, after allegations that he had been blackmailed by policemen over a video said to picture him meeting a transsexual prostitute. (© The Times, London)
- Richard Owen in Rome
Irish Independent
