• by IPS Correspondents (rome)
• Wednesday, December 14, 1994
• Inter Press Service

ROME, Dic 14 (IPS) - A conspiracy of the scale and intensity of a "true coup d'etat" has been launched against the Italian government, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday.

He accused the co-governing Northern League and the opposition of orchestrating a "coup attempt...they want a crisis, and they are working so that things will go badly, with the sole objective of getting me out of office."

Berlusconi said that he would have no qualms about calling new elections if the Northern League decides to leave the governing coalition to form an alliance with the former communist Democratic Left Party (PDS).

He claimed that his inclusion on a list of people to be investigated on corruption charges had turned what should be a legal protection mechanism into a tool against him.

The judges in the "Clean Hands" investigations questioned Berlusconi in Milan for nearly eight hours on Tuesday on his alleged involvement in the payment of 205,000 dollars in bribes to the Italian tax police, by two subsidiary companies of his Fininvest empire between 1989 and 1992.

"I never authorised or knew of any corrupt practices," he said, adding that it was unfair to talk of corruption "when these episodes were obviously extortion attempts against Fininvest directors."

Italy is speeding towards political crisis, with the government coalition of Forza Italia, the neofascist National Alliance and the Northern League on the brink of division.

Berlusconi has thus far refused to surrender, and plans to present a government proposal for the next six months and an evaluation of the last six sometime next week.

However, he will have to overcome votes of no confidence by the Northern League and the two leading opposition parties -also scheduled for next week - which could result in his downfall.

The Northern League has made several accusations against the government, including placing the blame on Justice Minister Alfredo Bondi for forcing the resignation of leading "Clean Hands" judge Antonio di Pietro.

If the no confidence vote passes, President Oscar Scalfaro will have to name a new Prime Minister or call for new elections - the option preferred by Berlusconi and the National Alliance.

However, with most of the Northern League threatening to join forces with the PDS and the former christian democrat People's Party (PPI) his reelection hopes may be dashed.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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