Premier wants parliament to decide fate of his government - Premier Romano Prodi went before the House on Tuesday to ask that it reconfirm its confidence in his government following the decision by ex-justice minister Clemente Mastella to withdraw the support of his Udeur party.
The premier's address opened a floor debate which will conclude with a confidence vote on Wednesday, after which Prodi will face the almost impossible task of winning a confidence test in the Senate.
This because without the Udeur's three senators Prodi no longer holds a majority there.
In his 15-minute address to the House, Prodi ''proudly'' defended his government's record over the past 20 months and said ''this government has brought benefits to the nation and I am convinced that it will be able to do so in the future''.
The government, Prodi observed, ''was the result of a pact for the legislature based on a common five-year program which has already put Italy back on its feet''.
Speaking amid catcalls and other protests from the opposition benches, Prodi said: ''you members of parliament must clearly and publicly assume the responsibilities for which you were elected. It is parliament which must decide the fate of a government''.
Turning his attention to Mastella, Prodi voiced appreciation for the work he had done as justice minister and said that the Udeur leader had always enjoyed the government's ''full political and personal'' support.
In regards to Mastella's attack on the judiciary, after he was placed under investigation for favor-peddling, Prodi said it was important for political and judicial authorities to remain within their institutional boundaries as established by the constitution and to demonstrate reciprocal respect.
''And it is based on the constitution that I ask you members of the House, and later your colleagues in the Senate, for a vote of confidence based on the statements you have just listened to,'' Prodi concluded.
Following Prodi's address, the Udeur confirmed that it will vote against the government both in the House and Senate, while opposition leaders called for Prodi's immediate resignation.
Former premier Silvio Berlusconi, who was absent from the floor, summed up the opposition's position by defining the confidence votes as ''a useless formality because the situation is clear''.
The Forza Italia leader and probable center right candiate for premier said he expected to reply to Prodi in the House on Wednesday, before the confidence vote.
Speaking to the press from the home of his ailing mother in Milan, Berlusconi also predicted that Mastella would reunite with the Catholic opposition UDC party of Pier Ferdinando Casini to create a larger centrist force.
Although Casini has joined the opposition chorus calling for Prodi to resign, he appears to have a different position in regards to elections.
While Forza Italia, the National Alliance and Northern League have all come out in favor of early elections, Casini has not ruled out backing an 'institutional' government.
This would be a government headed by someone like the speaker of the Senate, Franco Marini, which would have bipartisan support to adopt needed reforms, including changes to the electoral law, after which elections could be held.
Such a government already has the support several of the parties in the government center-left coalition.
Mastella said on Monday that he had decided to bring the government down because of differences on a number of issues including electoral reform, the proposed referendum on the current electoral law and relations with the new Democratic Party, which was created through the fusion of the Democratic Left and centrist Daisy parties.
He also cited a lack of support from his ex-allies after his wife, Campania region assembly Speaker Sandra Lonardo, was placed under house arrest and he under investigation in connection with an alleged system of peddling political favors and influencing public tenders in the region.
Should parliament be dissolved, observers noted, there will be no referendum on the electoral law this spring.
The referendum asks Italians to approve three changes to the current system of proportional representation.
The first two would award an extra packet of parliamentary seats to whichever party won the most votes. At present this packet goes to the winning coalition.
The third question aims to stop the current practice of high-profile candidates standing in more than one constituency, using their visibility to attract more votes.
Politicians on both sides of the electoral divide are split on whether a system produced by the effects of the referendum would be workable or not.
