ROME: Italian Senators will vote on November 27 on whether to expel centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi from parliament over a conviction for tax fraud, officials said yesterday.
The vote has the potential to trigger a new crisis for Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragile ruling coalition of left and right, given Berlusconi’s repeated threats to pull his People of Freedom group out of the government if Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) votes for his expulsion.
Luigi Zanda, the PD floor leader in the Senate, told reporters the date had been set for November 27 at a meeting of group leaders from all the main parties.
In August, Italy’s top court confirmed Berlusconi’s conviction over tax fraud at his television empire and sentenced him to four years’ prison, commuted to a year under house arrest or in community service.
REUTERS
