MSG133G/01E ITALY: Berlusconi Says Charges Against Him Are Orchestrated Plot

ROME, Nov 26 (IPS) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the recent legal actions taken against him are orchestrated attacks which seek to destroy him politically.

Berlusconi received legal notification from Milan - 557 kilometres north of Rome - on Tuesday that he is under investigation for alleged bribes to the Italian tax police.

The public prosecutor's office in Rome also announced that the Prime Minister is on a list of individuals to be investigated on corruption charges.

"By now it is clear that these judicial initiatives have nothing to do with true justice but instead represent well- defined political attacks," Berlusconi told the daily 'Corriere della Sera' on Saturday.

The newspaper was the first to announce on Monday that Berlusconi is on a list of people under investigation by judges involved in the "Clean Hands" operation against political corruption, the largest of its kind in Italy's history.

Berlusconi said "the common people know the truth very well and thousands of people are sending messages of solidarity" to his office in the Chigi Palace, government headquarters in Rome.

He repeated that "if this government is able to carry out its programme, Italians will vote again, and we'll see who will be the next (chief) executive."

Asked about the possibility of heightened social tension and conflicts resulting from proposed social security cutbacks, Berlusconi said "there is no need to dramatise something that doesn't exist."

In recent weeks, millions of workers, pensioners and students took to the streets of Italian cities to protest the 1995 budget law currently being studied by parliament that provides for drastic cuts in social benefits, public health and education, while a general strike has been called for Dec. 2.

Regarding the possibility of demonstrations, Berlusconi said his government will work "to avoid that happening...Social conflict and political confusion do not help the country at all."

He added that his government, unions and the political opposition are willing and able to reach an accord on the budget law.

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