A newspaper close to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued an ultimatum to his allies on Sunday, saying they must back laws shielding him from court trials or risk a government collapse. Il Giornale, an indicator of Berlusconi's moods and discontent, said the next few days could be a "a week of passion" for the coalition and could lead to the government's resignation and early general elections.
The banner front-page headline of Il Giornale, owned by Berlusconi's brother Paolo, read: "Berlusconi's Ultimatum: Those who don't agree are out of the PDL," referring to his People of Freedom coalition.
It went on to say that Berlusconi's allies must commit themselves to "protecting the prime minister from the judicial offensive against him" otherwise "the government will resign and there will be new elections". Berlusconi, who lost his immunity from prosecution last month, has often shown his fury against the judicial system, saying it was overrun by "communists" out to destroy him.
He has been in combative mode since Italy's top court ruled that his protection from prosecution while in office violated the constitution. It overturned a law passed by his government which critics denounced as tailor-made to protect him. Since the ruling, Berlusconi's lawyers have been working overtime on a project to reform Italy's snail-paced judicial system, a reform that critics say would once again shield him from prosecution by blocking a number of his trials.
According to reports in major newspapers, Berlusconi wants to present legislation to parliament that would put time limits on the three stages of court cases in Italy: initial trial, first appeal and final appeal.
According to one proposal, all three stages would have to take place within six years or a blanket statute of limitations would kick in and the cases would be declared null. While Italians want a reform of a notoriously inefficient judicial system, the opposition says Berlusconi's real aim is to regain his own immunity.
"Berlusconi doesn't want trials to move fast .. he wants the certainty of impunity," said Antonio Di Pietro, a former anti-graft magistrate and leader of a small opposition party.
Justice Minister Angelino Alfano has denied the government is preparing something tailor-made for Berlusconi and the prime minister is expected to portray the reform as something that will help everyone.
Civil courts take on average 960 days to reach a sentence, 1,500 more for an appeal and have a backlog of 5.4 million cases. Criminal courts average 420 days for a sentence and have 3.6 million cases pending. Any judicial reform will need the support of two main coalition factions, that led by Gianfrano Fini, the influential speaker of parliament's lower house, and that of the Northern League, headed by the firebrand Umberto Bossi.
While it appears likely that Bossi will sign on in exchange for the Northern League getting the top job in two big northern regions in next March's regional elections, Fini is said to have serious reservations about the proposal. Fini, who has very tense relations with Berlusconi after saying he sometimes behaves like "an absolute monarch", is concerned that too many trials will be cancelled.
Il Giornale launched another direct attack on Fini on Sunday, calling him "the head of a small circus of deaf men" and said "Fini has been warned". After he lost his immunity, a number of corruption trials against the 73-year-old prime minister that had been suspended will now either resume where they left off or start again.
One, which involved the acquisition of TV rights by Mediaset, his television empire, had been due to resume on November 16 but Berlusconi's lawyers have informed the court that he will not be able to attend because of a world food summit in Rome.
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