A key ally of former premier Silvio Berlusconi came under fire from all sides after he turned the heat up in a so-far lacklustre public referendum campaign over plans to shift more powers to Italy's regions.
Populist Northern League leader Umberto Bossi triggered the storm by suggesting on the Wednesday evening news that non-democratic ways would be found to push through the devolutionist reforms if Italians gave them the thumbs down in the upcoming referendum.
"There will never be another chance to change the Constitution and change the country democratically. Other ways will have to be found, because democratically it won't be possible any more and that's the dramatic thing," he said. "We were better off under Austrian domination," added Bossi, who has kept a low political profile since suffering heart failure and a stroke more than two years ago.
The Romano Prodi-led government condemned Bossi's comments on Thursday.
The Democratic Left, the largest party in the centre-left governing coalition, accused Bossi of an "extraordinarily subversive act".
Deputy Premier and Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said he was "shocked by these threatening tones aimed at dividing the country". While opposition chief Berlusconi dismissed the row as "hypocritical and contrived," tensions nonetheless flared in his four-way coalition, with centrists hastily distancing themselves from the League's stance.
Lorenzo Cesa, who heads the centrist, Catholic UDC party, said that "Bossi's comments are unacceptable not just for the Left but also for us". "The UDC will never tolerate such a line," said Cesa, whose party has never been enthusiastic about the planned reforms and fears they could alienate its voter power base in the south.
The rightist Northern Alliance (AN), the second biggest opposition party behind Berlusconi's Forza Italia, also expressed criticism. AN chief Gianfranco Fini said that Bossi's comments were "out of place" and "excessive". But the former foreign
minister also urged the centre left not to "criminalise" the League and instead reflect on the country's need for constitutional reform.
Forza Italia coordinator Sandro Bondi sought to ease the row by suggesting Bossi had been misunderstood. Bondi said Bossi's point was that if Italians overturned the reforms, then "the Left will block all further attempt at constitutional change and that would wreak irreversible damage for the entire country".
The referendum on the sweeping constitutional and devolutionary reforms, approved by the previous, Berlusconi-led government in November 2005, will be held on June 25-26. The Northern League has been passionately demanding 'devolution' for years, having toned down its previous battle cry for northern secession.
The party was one of the main forces behind the bill which devolves greater powers to Italy's 20 regions in the areas of health, education and local policing. The bill also increases the powers of the premier while trimming those of the president; transforms the Senate into a federal rather than a national legislative body, and reshapes the Constitutional Court so regional interests are represented.
The devolutionary reforms were the key condition set by the League for maintaining its support for Berlusconi's government but since the bill as a whole did not gain two-thirds support in parliament, it now faces the referendum test.
Prodi and his nine-party alliance are staunchly opposed to the overhaul arguing that Italy's underdeveloped southern regions will be penalised by the devolution part and that the other measures will undermine the powers of the head of state, weaken parliament and lengthen legislative procedures. They say that reforms to Italy's 1948 Constitution require cross-party consensus and should not be rammed through by one side.
But the centre right argues that the reforms will benefit Italy's regions while making them more accountable. It says the bill as a whole will modernise and streamline the country's institutions and give it greater government stability by introducing a stronger premiership. Under the reforms, the premier would be directly elected by voters and given the powers to hire and fire ministers, propose that parliament be dissolved and call elections.
With the present system, only parliament can dismiss aminister via a no-confidence vote, while it is up to the president to dissolve parliament and call elections.
Because the referendum affects constitutional reforms, the usual quorum of 50% of the electorate plus one is not applicable so no matter how few people vote, the outcome will be valid. Rejection of the reforms would be a booster for Prodi, who won the narrowest of victories against Berlusconi in the April general election and whose parliamentary majority is precarious, particularly in the Senate.
Berlusconi's position, meanwhile, could be fatally weakened if the bill is overturned.
The Northern League could be tempted to abandon his coalition while AN and the UDC could resume demands for a new centre-right leader.
