Berlusconi to address Italy’s parliament

Silvio Berlusconi will address parliament in the last week of September following weeks of acrimony with his estranged former ally, Gianfranco Fini.

The government has reconvened after the summer break but there is still no word on when it will call a vote of confidence.

This could trigger early elections not otherwise due until 2013.

Berlusconi wants Francesco Fini dismissed as speaker of the lower house but when questioned on television, Fini said he was hoping for three more years.

Berlusconi can no longer count on a guaranteed majority in the lower house after the split with Fini in July.

The parliamentary speaker and co-founder of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom Party has the backing of 34 deputies and ten senators.

Fini has said he will not force fresh elections.

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