Italy: Italian deputy prime minister Marco Follini has called for an immediate general election, increasing the pressure on prime minister Silvio Berlusconi following his rout in a regional ballot last week.
Mr Follini's comments yesterday reflect fears within part of the government that things can get only worse for them as the economy fails to ignite, and that an election one year ahead of schedule might save them from total meltdown.
"I think it would be wise to save the country from a year of election campaigning which risks being poisonous and demagogical," Mr Follini, the leader of the centrist Union of Christian Democrats (UDC), told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The crushing defeat at the elections of Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia meant "it would be politically honest to put the keys to the government back in the hands of the voters", he said.
The centre-left Unione coalition, led by former European Commission president Romano Prodi, won 11 of 13 regions at stake.
He said Italians were fed up with four years of Berlusconi rule in which the economy had barely grown.
Mr Prodi took 52 per cent of the vote, seven points more than Mr Berlusconi, fully reversing the balance of power at the 2001 general election.
A similar pattern at a general election would give the centre-left a parliamentary majority.
The centre-right was thrown into disarray by the defeat, with Mr Berlusconi, the media magnate, being written off almost overnight as a lame duck prime minister who had lost his political touch and the trust of Italians.
The mainstream Corriere, Italy's biggest-selling and most influential daily, ran a front-page editorial yesterday urging Mr Berlusconi to step down to save himself and the country "a year of extremely painful political agony".
The newspaper, however, said the prime minister was unlikely to follow its advice.
Last week, while not ruling out an early vote, he said he wished to continue in office "in order to complete everything we have started".
The fact that Mr Berlusconi's allies are even considering a snap vote they would be expected to lose underscores concerns that their four-party coalition could tear itself apart amid conflicting explanations for the regional election slump.
The UDC and Gianfranco Fini's right-wing National Alliance party blame Mr Berlusconi's "axis" with the populist Northern League and a Bill to devolve power to the regions, which is seen to be favouring the rich north and alienating southern voters.
The League and parts of Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy) party say the government has been too timid with its reforms and dismiss calls to water down the contested devolution Bill.
The tensions come against a backdrop of depressed consumer and business confidence, weak economic growth and a widespread perception that Mr Berlusconi is no longer an electoral asset. - (Reuters)