Pressure piles on Berlusconi

It will take Europe a decade to sort out its financial situation.

That is the verdict of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the day after a G20 summit dominated by the euro zone crisis.

Few concrete decisions were taken – aside from an agreement that the International Monetary Fund would monitor Italy’s efforts to bring its massive debts under control.

IMF chief, Christine Lagarde, said current plans lacked “credibility”.

The smile barely slipped from Silvio Berlusconi’s face in front of the cameras. But such a move is a massive embarassment for the euro zone’s third largest economy.

The Prime Minister’s losing political allies fast and faces a confidence vote on Tuesday.

Even the country’s president, Giorgio Napolitano, has hinted Berlusconi should step down, exceeding the normal constraints of his ceremonial title.

On Saturday he said opposing political camps in Italy needed to come together to create a perspective for development for the country and restore the role and prestige Italy deserves.

In the capital, Rome, the opposition was a little more forthright.

It organised a mass rally attended by thousands from across the country with a message to Berlusconi echoing the words of a Financial Times editorial which carried the headline “In God’s name go!”

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