Berlusconi insists he will win confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sent a message to his supporters Saturday scorning political “traitors” for alleged lies and slander about him and insisting that he will secure the vote of confidence in parliament Tuesday.

By Nicolas Germain (video)
News Wires (text)

AFP – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took aim Saturday at what he called a campaign of lies and slander against him, and said he would survive Tuesday's vote of confidence in parliament.

"For several months Italian public life has been paralysed by an irresponsible political crisis," Berlusconi said in a message to his supporters who plan demonstrations in his favour in several Italian cities on Saturday.

"This crisis stems from lies and slander directed at the prime minister," he charged, accusing the left and defectors from his party of seeking to bring him down at any cost.

Berlusconi faces a knife-edge confidence vote in both houses of parliament on Tuesday that could trigger his downfall or see the resilient Italian leader bounce back once again.

Backed by his allies, the anti-immigrant Northern League, he has enough support in the Senate but lacks votes in the lower house after its speaker, Gianfranco Fini, led a walkout of some 40 lawmakers from his party.

The centre-right prime minister has been fighting off a series of scandals, including his alleged interference in a police inquiry of a 17-year-old nightclub dancer who said she attended his notorious parties.

He is also under fire for failing to deal with mountains of trash collecting around Naples.

Berlusconi accused the defectors -- "traitors" to his party and the electorate -- of being concerned solely with their own interests and not those of Italy, but added, "I will secure the vote of confidence."