Berlusconi loyalists protest planned ban of ex-PM

[Punch]

Silvio Berlusconi's party boycotted a summit of Italy's fragile coalition government and blocked parliamentary activity on Wednesday in protest against a supreme court decision to fast track a ruling that could ban him from public office.

Legislative activity in both chambers of parliament was suspended for a day because of the protest by Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, one of the two main partners in Enrico Letta's left-right coalition government.

The court decision has aggravated tension in the squabbling coalition which was already under fire for the slow pace of reforms desperately needed to boost recovery from the worst recession since World War Two.

Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist 5-Star Movement which stunned Italy by winning an unprecedented quarter of the vote in a February election, said Italy was heading for catastrophe because of the government's failure to take extraordinary measures to tackle the economy.

He said Italy was like a pressure cooker "on the verge of blowing up" and called on President Giorgio Napolitano to call an election as soon as possible.

The supreme court was forced to issue an unusual statement defending its decision on Tuesday to hear Berlusconi's final appeal on July 30 against a tax fraud conviction. The 76-year-old media magnate's lawyers had not expected a ruling until late in the year.

The court will rule on whether to uphold a four-year jail term and five-year ban on holding public office for complicity in tax fraud at Berlusconi's Mediaset television empire.

The Punch