ROME (AP) — Italy’s opposition has introduced a no-confidence motion against Premier Silvio Berlusconi in a move that sets the stage for a showdown in parliament that could spell the end of the government.
The opposition Democratic Party and the allied Italy of Values party co-sponsored the motion Friday in the lower Chamber of Deputies. No date has been set for it to be discussed.
Berlusconi’s government has been in a tailspin for months, but the political crisis accelerated over the weekend when his estranged ally Gianfranco Fini formally called on him to resign.
Berlusconi refused. The no-confidence motion will now force Fini and his allies, whose support is crucial to the premier, to choose whether to support him or force the government to fall.