Italian lawmakers threaten to resign over Berlusconi issue

Parliament members from the party of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi have threatened to resign all together if a senate committee votes to expel him from the legislative body over a tax fraud conviction.

A cross-party senate committee is set to vote on October 4 on whether the 76-year-old billionaire should be stripped of his senator post following the criminal conviction. It is widely speculated that the 23-member senate committee will vote for Berlusconi’s expulsion.

On Wednesday, Italy’s former Senate chief Renato Schifani put forward a proposal at Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) meeting for lawmakers to resign en bloc, which was highly greeted.

However, an aide of Berlusconi, Renato Brunetta said, “There was no proposal for mass resignation. We have only asked each parliamentarian to reflect on and decide according to his or her conscience.”

Meanwhile, PDL’s rival centre-left Democratic Party (PD) condemned the decision by PDL lawmakers, with its leader Guglielmo Epifani calling it “a proof of irresponsibility for the umpteenth time towards the country.”

“The PDL risks destroying everything and destabilizing the actions of the government which is seeking to resolve the problems of the Italian people,” Epifani added.

The mass resignation threat has raised tensions within the coalition of PDL and PD, a fragile government that was formed following a general election in February and is now at the risk of collapsing.

In August, Italy’s Supreme Court confirmed Berlusconi’s four-year prison term, commuted to one year, for a massive fraud at his Mediaset television empire. However, due to his age Berlusconi is expected to go into house arrest or do community service.

In 2012 Italy’s parliament passed a law that bans anyone who is sentenced to over two years in jail from holding or serving in office for six years.

Many experts believe that Berlusconi’s backers are not likely to bring down the government, even though they have frequently threatened to do so in case the ex-premier is expelled from parliament.