Silvio Berlusconi’s closest coalition ally Umberto Bossi told him to resign today in what could be a mortal blow to the Italian prime minister.
Bossi, head of the devolutionist Northern League, said the 75-year-old media magnate should be replaced by Angelino Alfano, secretary of the premier’s PDL party.
“We asked the prime minister to stand down,” Bossi told reporters outside parliament.
Berlusconi (picture) has until now remained defiant ahead of a key parliamentary vote today afternoon, refusing calls from all sides to step down, but Bossi’s call could tip the balance against him.
The League, together with many members of the PDL, are believed to want Berlusconi to make way for a new centre-right government capable of facing a huge economic crisis and restoring the confidence of markets without handing power to a transitional administration.
Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi arrives at the Justice Palace in Milan April 11, 2011. A defiant Berlusconi arrived in court on Monday to face the latest in a series of trials over the coming weeks on charges ranging from tax fraud to paying for sex with a minor.
A defiant Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi arrived in court today to face the latest in a series of trials over the coming weeks on charges ranging from tax fraud to paying for sex with a minor.
“I will not be convicted,” Berlusconi told reporters confidently as he entered the courthouse, with a crowd of supporters cheering him on.
He said magistrates, whom he has accused of being politically biased leftists, had hurled “an incredible amount of mud” at him “and the whole country”.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is likely to dig in his heels after being ordered to stand trial but ultimately he will not be able to stem the tide heading toward early elections, commentators said today.
“Objectively speaking, Berlusconi is worn down and gasping for breath,” wrote Massimo Franco, a leading political commentator for the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
In perhaps the hardest blow in a string of judicial problems, a judge ordered Berlusconi (picture) to stand trial in April on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office for intervening with police to get her freed from custody.
He has so far not commented on the indictment but his lieutenants have blasted the trial order as what they call another calculated move by leftist magistrates to destroy his political career.
Protesters gather in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo to demonstrate against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on February 13, 2011
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today he had no intention of stepping down and dismissed a weekend demonstration by thousands of women across Italy over his involvement in a sex scandal.
Hundreds of thousands of women took part in rallies yesterday to defend their dignity and protest over the underage prostitution scandal that has rocked the 74 year-old prime minister’s centre-right government.
The billionaire media entrepreneur told his Canale 5 network the protests were the work of his political opponents and denied that he disrespects women.
“I saw the usual factional forces mobilised against me by a certain section of the left which uses any pretext to beat an adversary whom they can’t manage to beat at the polls,” he told a morning programme.
“All women who have had the opportunity to get to know me, know how much I respect them. I have always behaved and I always behave with great care and great respect, both in my companies and in my government.”
“I have always tried to act in such a way that every woman feels special,” he said.
Sunday’s protests included several leading figures from the opposition centre-left and many conservative middle-aged women, a group which has traditionally supported him.
Berlusconi said the government would not resign over the affair, potentially opening the way for new elections.
Karima El Mahroug appearing as a guest on the Italian television show “Kalispera” near Milan January 19, 2011.
One of Italy’s most senior woman politicians has condemned Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as a “sultan” who degrades women, and predicted many of those who voted for him will abandon him in the next election.
Rosy Bindi, president of the opposition Democratic Party and deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, said in an interview that sex scandals were likely to cost Berlusconi power.
“Italian women are paying the highest price for this scandal, with an image being spread of women whose value is reduced to their bodies and who become tradeable goods at the disposal of the sultan, the emperor,” she told Reuters.
“Berlusconi has based an important part of his electoral success on women . . . but undoubtedly his approval ratings are now falling . . . women will represent a key element in putting an end to Berlusconi’s honeymoon in our country,” she said in her office in the lower house yesterday evening.
Italy’s next elections are not scheduled until 2013 but most commentators say either Berlusconi’s sex scandals or the fracturing of the centre right will lead to the collapse of his government and early national polls, perhaps this year.
Silvio Berlusconi after the attack; a You Tube video has suggested the attack was faked.Suffered from cut lips,2 broken lip.
Massimo Tartaglia (C) was arrested for attacking the Italian Prime Minister with a marble and metal statue
A You Tube video which suggests the attack on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was faked has become an overnight sensation.
Berlusconi, 73, was hit in the face with a souvenir marble and metal replica of Milan's famous Gothic cathedral following a political rally and suffered a fractured nose and two broken teeth.
TV footage of the politician showing him bleeding profusely from cuts to his lips and gums went around the world in a matter of seconds and were seen by millions.
However, today a video posted on You Tube suggesting the attack in Milan was faked had received almost 500,000 hits in just a matter of hours.
Called 'Was the attack on Berlusconi a montage?' the video lasts eight minutes and is on a par with other past conspiracy theories such as the attack on the Twin Towers being a CIA created plot.
The video's author is unidentified but using footage and still photographs it raises questions regarding several key moments in the aftermath of last Sunday's attack in Milan.
It asks why the blood on Berlusconi's face appears to be 'thick and already' set and also asks why if as the hospital later said he had lost 'half a litre of blood' is his suit and shirt not drenched.
Also highlighted in a security guard who is seen handing Berlusconi something in his car and the video suggests that it is a 'aerosol spray containing fake blood.'
The video then goes on to ask viewers to 'switch off the TV and use your brains' and adds that the attack by graphic designer Massimo Tartaglia, 42, was nothing more than a 'self styled plot.'
Following the attack Berlusconi was taken to hospital where e he was kept in for four days before being discharged and told by doctors to 'take complete rest for the next fifteen days.'
Political commentators immediately said that the former cruise ship crooner would win sympathy from Italians for the attack and yesterday one poll showed Berlusconi having a 66 per cent popularity rating - a jump of 20 per cent in just week.
Supporters from his People of Freedom party dismissed the conspiracy theory video - which was being sent on via Facebook and email around the world - with Danielle Capezzone saying it was 'absurd.'
He added: 'I have seen this video and segments of others and I think what we are dealing here is micro terrorism.
'I can see in these people the same ideology as people who use violence - you just have to see the footage to see this attack was very real.
'These people are deny the evidence and trying to create something out of nothing.
'I can't believe people are questioning the attack just because they think Berlusconi wasn't bleeding properly or enough.'
Help: Bodyguards surround the prime minister.The moment Mr Berlusconi is struck in the face by a statuette.A scuffle breaks out immediately after Berlusconi is attacked
Assault: Silvio Berlusconi appeared shaken as he was rushed to hospital
Bloodied: Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi in his vehicle after being attacked at the rally in Milan
Seized: Massimo Tartaglia, centre, was quickly arrested after the attack.Slapped or hurled a statue at Italy PM.
Mr Berlusconi was signing autographs when he was attacked with a gargoyled statue.
News reports say Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent an untroubled night at the hospital after being hit in the face with a statuette hurled by a man at a rally in Milan.
The ANSA news agency said Berlusconi asked to see newspapers upon waking up Monday at the San Raffaele hospital. The hospital's spokesman could not be reached for comment.
The hospital is expected to issue a medical update at midday.
Berlusconi was hit Sunday as he was signing autographs at the rally. The 73-year-old leader was rushed to hospital with blood under his nose, on his mouth and under one eye. He suffered a fractured nose, two broken teeth and a lip injury, according to hospital spokesman Paolo Klun.
The attacker has been arrested.
With a split lip, a broken nose and his face covered in blood, this was Silvio Berlusconi after he was punched to the ground by an attacker yesterday.
The 73-year-old Italian prime minister also lost two teeth in the assault as he signed autographs at the end of a stormy political rally in Milan.
His personal doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said the premier would be kept in hospital for observation for up to 48 hours, adding his injuries would take at least 15 days to heal.
Berlusconi, a popular but divisive figure, said 'I'm fine, I'm fine' as he arrived at the hospital, where he spent an untroubled night.
He reportedly asked to see newspapers upon waking up, no doubt wanting to read coverage of the assault on the front pages.
Berlusconi was attacked when a man stepped from the crowd, dodging bodyguards, before smashing the politician in the face - apparently while clutching a model of the city's Duomo cathedral in his clenched fist.
The prime minister told an Italian TV presenter visiting him in hospital that he considered it ‘miraculous’ not to have lost an eye in the attack.
‘This is truly a bad day for Italy, and it's the duty of all the political forces to ensure that Italy does not go back to the years of violence,’ Gianfranco Fini, Berlusconi's top conservative ally, said.
The incident triggered an outpouring of solidarity for Berlusconi from allies and critics, just as the prime minister seeks to regain political momentum after a bruising year battling mounting legal troubles and sex scandals.
Allies blamed the assault on an atmosphere of hatred swirling around the billionaire businessman.
‘What they've done to Berlusconi is an act of terrorism,’ Umberto Bossi, head of the far-right Northern League and a close Berlusconi ally, said.
‘An oppressive climate has been felt for some time and what's happened today is a worrying sign.’
The attacker, named last night as Massimo Tartaglia, was arrested by police and taken away. Just hours after the attack, Facebook groups had sprung up hailing or attacking Tartaglia, including one fan site with more than 32,000 fans that labelled him a man with "lots of courage".
TV showed a stunned Mr Berlusconi with blood around his mouth as he was lifted to his feet by aides.
He was bundled into his official car but immediately got out, apparently in an effort to show he was not badly injured. After looking out into the crowd, the aides pulled him back into the vehicle.
As police officers swamped the rally, Mr Berlusconi was driven to a nearby hospital where he was given a CAT scan.
Doctors said that as he was being treated on a stretcher, he had told them: 'I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry about me.'
It was reported that the attacker was wielding a miniature statue of Milan's Duomo, the city's gargoyled cathedral and symbol.
There was no immediate suggestion of a motive for the attack. Police sources said that 42-year-old Tartaglia, from Milan, was not known as a political activist and had no criminal convictions apart from minor driving offences.
They added, however, that he had been 'receiving medical attention for mental problems' for ten years.
Before the attack, Mr Berlusconi had delivered a fiery speech to supporters of his People of Freedom party in the square in front of the cathedral. Scores of opponents had also gathered to try to drown out his speech.
Defence minister Ignazio La Russa who witnessed the attack said: 'I saw blood coming from the premier's nose and mouth. He was then pushed into the car by his bodyguards and driven away.
'He was actually trying to step on the edge of the door so that he could stand and wave to the crowds but his bodyguards would not let him do it, they pushed him inside.
'The attacker was held immediately by the police and it's a good job he was because he risked being lynched by the crowd. There would have been just pieces of him left.'
The attack came after a speech that had been billed as politically significant but revealed no big policy shift.
Berlusconi launched a familiar tirade against the left and rattled off a list of government achievements, in a characteristically feisty performance aimed at shoring up his standing and ratings.
It is the second time that Mr Berlusconi has been attacked in public. In 2004 he was hit over the head with a camera tripod while strolling in Rome.
Last night's incident came despite reports in November security had been tightened-around him following fears that he was being targeted by Left-wing terrorists.
Mr Berlusconi has been at the centre of controversy for much of the year. In April it emerged that he had attended the 18th birthday party of a lingerie model, giving her a £5,400 gold and diamond necklace.
It prompted his long-suffering wife Veronica Lario, 53, to announce she was divorcing him because she could no longer be with a man who ' associated with minors and was ill'.
In June it emerged that escort girls had been among women invited to parties at his official residences. One claimed to have slept with him.
He has also been at the centre of a political storm after an immunity law his government introduced was overturned, meaning he could be put on trail for corruption.
In recent weeks there have been claims he was in the Mafia, allegations he has dismissed as lies.
An opinion poll published on Saturday indicated his popularity had fallen four percentage points to just over 50 percent as Italians fretted that his legal entanglements could distract him from government duties.
