ITALY: NEW BERLUSCONI GOVERNMENT CONFIRMED

UNCLAS ROME 001446

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR IT ITALIAN POLITICS
SUBJECT: ITALY: NEW BERLUSCONI GOVERNMENT CONFIRMED

REF: A) ROME 1442, B) ROME 1409


1. (U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: The new Italian Government led by Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi received its final confidence
vote from the Senate on April 28. The Chamber of Deputies
gave the new Government its confidence on April 27. The
Government retains its significant parliamentary majority,
provided the four larger partners stay on board. However,
tensions between coalition partners remain. Approaching
elections will likely exacerbate those strains. END
SUMMARY.


3. (U) The Senate on April 28 voted 170 in favor, 117
opposed, in straight coalition voting (all center-right in
favor and all center-left opposed) to confirm Berlusconi
III. (Ref B) This vote followed Chamber of Deputies
approval on April 27, with 334 votes in favor, 240 against,
and two abstentions, also in straight coalition voting.
Together, four larger coalition partners (Forza Italia, FI;
National Alliance, AN; Union of Christian Democrats of the
Center, UDC; and Northern League, Lega) retain a significant
parliamentary majority. (The two smaller coalition
partners, New Italian Socialists (PSI) and Italian
Republicans (PRI) have no Senate seats and seven Chamber
seats between them.)


4. (SBU) Tensions remain in the governing coalition,
however. AN leader Gianfranco Fini called Berlusconi's
presentation of the new Government's new program "an
essential speech which decisively indicated end-of-term
objectives and took in our requests to focus our attention
on the south, business, and family income in the next couple
of months." UDC leader Marco Follini, however, delivered a
unenthusiastic reply on behalf of his party, saying "We
cannot coast toward 2006 as if everything were already
decided -- the structure of the coalition, the leader, and
perhaps, even the result. I would not be loyal or
constructive if I said 'everything's fine, we've already
made the needed changes, we're happy.' That's not the way
it is," Follini concluded. The Northern League's group
leader in the Chamber, Alessandro Ce, helpfully addressed
his coalition partners saying, "There is no axis of the
north, but an axis of change, and it was your inadequacy and
not the Lega's aggressiveness that made you lose your
electors."


5. (SBU) The opposition, meanwhile, reacted to the
creation of the new Government as expected. Democrats of the
Left (DS) leader Piero Fassino addressed Berlusconi
directly, saying, "You did not have the courage (to face
elections) because you knew you would have lost them. Your
allies decided not to call elections so they can wait a bit
to see who can lead the coalition in 2006. Italy is a great
country and deserves a great government; instead, it is
being led by a very small government." Calling the center-
right "deeply divided," Daisy leader Francesco Rutelli
charged that PM Berlusconi failed over the past four years
to enact his program. Opposition leader Romano Prodi
commented that Berlusconi only repeated proposals already
presented over the past four years.


6. (SBU) COMMENT: Imminent national elections will either
exacerbate the strains within the center-right coalition or
force the partners to work more closely together. If they
fail to deliver something to voters, particularly in the
economic arena, it is hard to see how the center-right could
win re-election. Nonetheless, the tendency toward
disintegration seems stronger thus far then that of hanging
together to avoid hanging separately.
SEMBLER


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2005ROME01446 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED