Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, yesterday called on Antonio Fazio, the governor of the Bank of Italy to resign, a development that capped an astonishing day that started with the resignation of Domenico Siniscalco, Italy's finance minister.
Mr Fazio cannot be sacked, but it is widely believed that his position would be untenable once the prime minister has withdrawn his support.
Mr Berlusconi appeared to have been forced into calling for his resignation by his coalition partners as a condition for their agreeing to name a new finance chief quickly.
Cabinet ministers agreed to appoint Giulio Tremonti as finance minister after an emergency session yesterday. Mr Tremonti, the deputy prime minister, is another fierce critic of Mr Fazio. Mr Tremonti was himself forced to resign last year as finance minister after a battle with Mr Fazio over capping the governor's powers.
Italy's ruling four-party coalition has been riven with divisions over Mr Fazio, who has been accused of a lack of impartiality in the long-running takeover battle for Banca Antonveneta, is a man whom Mr Berlusconi has been loathe to criticise.
Members of the coalition said yesterday that they would back Mr Tremonti only if Mr Berlusconi expressed a lack of confidence in Mr Fazio.
Mr Berlusconi said after the coalition meeting that the "conviction emerged that the stay in office of the governor of the Bank of Italy is no longer opportune, nor compatible with the international credibility of our country".
Mr Fazio himself left yesterday to travel to Washington for the meetings of the G7 and the International Monetary Fund.
Mr Fazio, who critics say has favoured a domestic buyer of Antonveneta over a rival bid from ABN Amro of the Netherlands, has staunchly resisted calls to quit since late July.
Mr Siniscalco, a respected independent in the coalition who has been worried about the damage that the scandal was doing to Italy's image, had failed to gain unequivocal support from the prime minister in his calls for Mr Fazio to leave.
Mr Siniscalco's resignation, he said, was a question of his "personal dignity".
