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Berlusconi’s political future could suffer from court rejection to controversial immunity law

14 January 2011 02:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Italy’s highest court on Thursday struck down part of the controversial immunity law that protected Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from the legal problems that have been following him for years, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

In 2008, Berlusconi’s allies passed a law that protected the Italian prime minister, the country’s president, and the leaders of both houses of parliament from criminal prosecution while they were in office.

That law was ruled unconstitutional a year later, but then in 2010, parliament passed a new law ruling that Berlusconi did not have to personally attend trials that involved him if he determined his attendance would prevent him from focusing on the affairs of the government.

On Thursday, the 15 members of the country’s Constitutional Court struck down part of that law, allowing individual judges overseeing specific cases to make the determination whether the prime minister’s attendance in court was necessary, revoking the so-called "legitimate impediment" claim that would allow Berlusconi and other top officials from being required to enter the courtroom.

At least two trials -- one dealing with influence peddling and corruption and another for tax fraud -- are likely to be re-opened in the wake of this decision.

Italian media reported that the magistrates overseeing those two cases were already mulling their next move, and that it was likely they would require Berlusconi to appear in court to answer charges.

Berlusconi, who is in Germany this week, called the trials against him "ridiculous." But if, as is now expected, he is forced to appear in court to respond to charges that misused the powers of his office, it could be another blow against the 74-year-old billionaire media tycoon.

Berlusconi managed to hold onto power by the narrowest margin in a Dec. 14 confidence vote that could have toppled his government. Since then, he has worked to strengthen his power base by seeking the support of some lawmakers who voted against him on Dec. 14 in an effort to avoid a new set of parliamentary elections that could completely reshape parliament and would leave Berlusconi’s chances for pulling together a majority uncertain.

So far, the effort seems to be paying off. News reports indicate that Berlusconi’s supporters in parliament have grown via defections from at least half a dozen fence-sitting lawmakers.

But it is unclear how solid Berlusconi’s support is. Pollsters say that even in the wake of the Dec. 14 vote, Berlusconi’s approval levels stalled at well under 40 percent, and Italian media has reported that many of the last-minute defectors to Berlusconi’s side did so because of individual promises of increased power or personal favors -- itself a possible cause for a legal investigation.

If Berlusconi is forced to appear in court to answer charges related to tax evasion or corruption -- or, worse yet, some of the embarrassing possible cases against him involving sex with minors or reportedly illicit deals used to assure support in parliament’ s confidence vote -- it is very likely his already low approval levels could sink to new lows and that hesitant allies would abandon his coalition.