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Italy's ruling party: Berlusconi blackmailing coalition government

22 September 2013 01:12 (UTC +04:00)

The secretary of Premier Enrico Letta's center-left party said on Friday that it was unacceptable for Berlusconi to impose his policies by threatening to sink the government.

"It's clear the Berlusconi no longer wants a peace-making government, he wants the program of policies of the centre right," Guglielmo Epifani stated.

The remarks came as Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom (PdL) party has threatened to pull its support if their policies were not approved.

“The fall of the government does not seem to me to be a good thing for the center-right...But the risk is that we are in for continual trials and turmoil, with threats and blackmail alternating with moderation,” Epifani warned.

Earlier this week, Berlusconi threatened to bring down the government if the Italian senate dismissed a recommendation by a PdL senator that the former premier should be able to keep his parliament seat despite his tax fraud conviction.

On August, Rome’s Court of Cassation convicted Berlusconi of tax evasion in a final ruling and sentenced him to carry out one year of community service or be put under house arrest.

However, the senate went against his demand. Berlusconi then vowed to remain in politics even if he would be expelled from parliament.

Berlusconi’s party had also threatened to withdraw from the coalition government if the PD failed to prevent a one percent increase of the country’s value added tax (VAT) scheduled for next month.

Berlusconi, who served as Italy’s prime minister from 1994 to 2011, resigned in November 2011 after coming under fire for mishandling the Italian economy.