Berlusconi's party backs Monti to be new PM

ROME (AP) — Economist Mario Monti won pledges of support Sunday to lead a new technocratic government to try to rescue Italy from financial disaster, including from Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party.

Italian Economist Mario Monti and his wife Elsa leave St. Ivo church at the end of a mass in Rome, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011. Monti won pledges of support Sunday to lead a new technocratic government to try to rescue Italy from financial disaster, including from Silvio Berlusconi's conservative party. But Berlusconi's ally, the Northern League, said it would become an opposition party rather than back Monti. (AP Photo/Angelo Carconi)

But Berlusconi's ally, the Northern League, said it would become an opposition party rather than back Monti.

After days of being pummeled by international investors skittish about Italy's massive debts, Italy faces severe pressure from financial markets to have a new government before Asian markets open.

President Giorgio Napolitano was talking Sunday with all party leaders and could tap Monti as soon as Sunday evening, just 24 hours after Berlusconi reluctantly resigned from the premiership due to a loss of faith in his leadership.

But even if Monti is chosen, he would still have to assemble a cabinet, present his rescue strategy to Parliament, and then seek a confidence vote after a debate. All that could take a few days.

The man Berlusconi chose to be his political heir, Angelino Alfano, said the conservative People of Freedom party would "give the OK to Monti's being tapped. "

"Then we'll see and will talk with Monti about his program, and if it suits us well, we will support him," Alfano told state TV. Berlusconi's party is the largest in Parliament, and its leaders were the last in a long line of politicians having their say to Napolitano. The party's backing would be crucial for any new government to successfully push economic reform.

Pierluigi Bersani, head of the largest opposition force, made up largely of former Communists and Christian Democrats, said his party would back an "emergency, transition government," whose "strong, technical, authoritative character" will help Italy deal with the crisis.

Whoever leads Italy faces a monumental task: an Italian default could tear apart the coalition of 17 countries that use the euro and wallop Europe and the U.S., which are trying to avoid new recessions.

Italy's economy is hampered by high wage costs, low productivity, fat government payrolls, excessive taxes, choking bureaucracy, and an educational system that produces one of the lowest levels of college graduates among rich countries.

In addition, as the third-largest economy in the eurozone, Italy is considered too big for Europe to bail out like it did Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

The next Italian government needs to push through even more painful reforms and austerity measures to deal with euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) in debt — about 120 percent of the country's economic output. And many of those debts are coming due soon — Italy has to roll over more than euro300 billion ($410 billion) of its debts next year alone.

Most centrists and center-left parties in the opposition have pledged support for a Monti government, saying the former European Union competition commissioner has the moral authority and economic know-how to get Italy to pass long-delayed structural economic reforms.

"Italian parties are at fork in the road. Either they speculate on the situation, hoping that they can get some campaign capital from it, or they take up their responsibilities to save the country," said centrist opposition leader Pier Ferdinanco Casini, expressing hope that a new government could last until elections are scheduled for spring 2013.

But Umberto Bossi said his Northern League party won't back any Monti-led government "for now." Bossi said he told Napolitano that his party, whose support kept Berlusconi's conservative coalition in power for years, will be a "vigilant" opposition to any Monti government until the economist spells out his plans.

"For now, we said, 'no.' Then we'll see the program and decide, time by time" whether to support specific legislation, Bossi said. "In any case, we won't give him any blank check."

Bossi's party has been demanding early elections instead. He also has opposed one key remedy, a pension reform that raises the retirement age for women.

Roberto Maroni, a founder of the Northern League, said he personally esteems Monti but won't back him.

"Parliament must have the guarantee of an opposition," Maroni told Italy's Sky TG24 TV. "Otherwise it won't be a democratic parliament."

Pressured for days by the markets, the 75-year-old Berlusconi stepped down Saturday night after new austerity measures won approval in Parliament. He slipped out of the presidential palace through a side door after handing in his resignation, as a hecklers jeered in the square outside the main entrance.

Even those new austerity measures are not enough to revive the dormant Italian economy. They raised the retirement age to 67, but not until 2026. They called for the sale of state property and privatizing some services but contained no painful labor reforms.

Maroni said he spoke with Berlusconi Saturday night and found him "very tried, physically tired. But he is always a great fighter."

"It was an ugly show to see. People spitting, throwing" objects, Maroni said.

"This phase is over, a blank page is being opened," Maroni said, holding out hope that the League and Berlusconi's forces might again join in a future political coalition.

Berlusconi's longtime nemesis, former anti-corruption prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, said his small Italy of Values Party would be willing to back a strictly "technocrat" government with no politicians in the cabinet "to respond to the (economic) emergency and give back this country its credibility."

Without mentioning Monti by name, Di Pietro insisted that elections must be held as soon as possible. But, he acknowledged, "in these hours of emergency, it's very hard" to carry out an electoral campaign.

Monti was reserved Sunday as he and his wife headed to church in Rome. Asked whether he was excited at the prospect of being Italy's next premier, he responded: "Have you noticed what a beautiful day it is?"

Source: The Associated Press

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Berlusconi promises to resign amid Italy debt woes

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Minister Silvio Berlusconi said for the first time Tuesday that he would resign once parliament approves economic reforms, and Greek politicians said they were close to agreeing on a new government to lead their country through painful cutbacks.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi aatends a voting session
at the Lower Chamber, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011. Premier
Silvio Berlusconi won a much-watched vote Tuesday, but the
result laid bare his lack of support in Parliament as financial
pressure from the eurozone debt crisis pummeled Italy.
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Both governments are under heavy pressure to reassure financial markets that the 17-country eurozone is moving quickly to reduce crippling government debts before those debts break apart the monetary union and plunge the world into a new recession.

Berlusconi's promise to resign came during a meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano after the premier lost his parliamentary majority during a routine vote earlier Tuesday. In a statement, Napolitano's office said Berlusconi had agreed to step down once the economic reforms have passed parliament. A vote on the measures is planned for next week.

Wealthier European countries including Germany and France have already bailed out struggling Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and Greece will get another euro100 billion ($138 billion) of debt relief as soon as it resolves its political crisis.

Senior government officials said Greece would get a new prime minister later Tuesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy surrounding the second day of talks between Prime Minister George Papandreou and opposition leader Antonis Samaras. They hope to reach a power-sharing deal that will prevent Greece from going bankrupt.

Italy poses an even graver challenge: Europe can't afford to bail out its euro1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) debt pile, and wants to see Italy live up to promises to rein in spending and improve lagging growth so it can pay it off itself. Few believe Berlusconi — sapped by scandal and economic bungling — has the political clout to get that done, and calls had increased for him to resign.

Among those urging that he step down was Berlusconi's main coalition ally, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi, who told reporters Tuesday: "We asked him to step aside, take a step to the side." Bossi is the volatile ally who brought down Berlusconi's first conservative government in 1994.

His comments came as he arrived for a much-watched vote that Berlusconi survived, but which laid bare the prime minister's lack of support in Parliament.

The vote, on a routine budget measure, won 308 votes of approval and no votes against in the lower house. But 321 deputies abstained from voting, most of them from the center-left opposition. If all 630 lawmakers had voted, Berlusconi would need a 316-seat majority to assure he was still in command.

Berlusconi scrutinized the vote tally handed him right after the vote, apparently trying to figure out who had abstained.

"This government does not have the majority!" thundered opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani, rising up in the chamber. "We all know that Italy is running the real risk in the next days to not have access to financial markets."

He was referring to Italy's borrowing rates, which have been soaring amid weeks of political uncertainty over Berlusconi's ability to oversee the adoption of austerity measures to fight Italy's growing debt burden.

Italian bond yields — the interest rates Italy would need to pay when it borrows money — reached their highest point since the country joined the euro in 1999 on increasing fears of default. The yields hit 6.73 percent, not far from the 7 percent levels that pushed Ireland, Portugal and Greece to seek bailouts.

Higher yields are signs of market fear of default and reluctance to lend, and they also make debt harder to repay in a vicious circle, since Italy needs to take out new loans to pay off the old ones.

The European Central Bank has been buying government bonds as a last-ditch defense to drive down yields and borrowing costs, but the bank insists the program is temporary. Eurozone finance ministers are working on ways to strengthen their euro440 billion bailout fund and give it effective lending power of over euro1 trillion through financial leverage and attracting money from private investors.

Even that wouldn't be enough to save Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy.

In Greece, Papandreou and Samaras agreed over the weekend to forge an interim government that will shepherd the country's new euro130 billion ($179 billion) European rescue package through Parliament.

By Tuesday afternoon there were still no details of when an interim prime minister would be announced, but the pressure was increasing on Greek politicians to make decisions soon. There was mounting speculation that a former deputy at the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, might replace Papandreou.

The country's ministers offered their resignations to Papandreou on Tuesday to pave the way for the creation of the interim government, which is only expected to last until Feb. 19 when a newly elected government would take over.

"We have made our resignation available to the prime minister in order to help him with his actions," Tourism Minister George Nikitiadis said. "My feeling is that tonight we will have a name (of the new premier). It's going well."

Greece's eurozone partners are demanding that Papandreou, Samaras and three other Greek officials co-sign a letter reaffirming their commitment to the country's bailout deals and economic reforms, in return for the release of a vital euro8 billion ($11 billion) loan installment later this month, according to a senior government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the demand was not public.

In return for its bailout cash, Greece has endured 20 months of punishing austerity measures. The efforts by Papandreou's government to keep the country solvent have prompted violent protests, crippling strikes and a sharp decline in living standards for most Greeks.

Source: The Associated Press

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Rioters hijack Rome protests, police fire tear gas

ROME (AP) — Italian riot police fired tear gas and water cannons in Rome on Saturday as violent protesters hijacked a peaceful demonstration against corporate greed, smashing bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles.

Elsewhere, hundreds of thousands nicknamed "the indignant" marched without incident in cities across Europe, as the "Occupy Wall Street" protests linked up with long-running demonstrations against European governments' austerity measures.

Protesters hurl objects at police in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Protesters in Rome smashed shop windows and torched cars as violence broke out during a demonstration in the Italian capital, part of worldwide protests against corporate greed and austerity measures. The "Occupy Wall Street" protests, that began in Canada and spread to cities across the U.S., moved Saturday to Asia and Europe, linking up with anti-austerity demonstrations that have raged across the debt-ridden continent for months. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Heavy smoke billowed in downtown Rome as a small group broke away and wreaked havoc in streets close to the Colosseum and elsewhere in the city.

Clad in black with their faces covered, protesters threw rocks, bottles and incendiary devices at banks and Rome police in riot gear. With clubs and hammers, they destroyed bank ATMs, set trash bins on fire and assaulted at least two news crews from Sky Italia.

Riot police charged the protesters repeatedly, firing water cannons and tear gas. Around 70 people were injured, according to news reports, including one man who tried to stop the protesters from throwing bottles.

TV footage showed one young woman with blood covering her face, while the ANSA news agency said a man had lost two fingers when a firecracker exploded.

In the city's St. John in Lateran square, police vans came under attack, with protesters hurling rocks and cobblestones and smashing the vehicles. Fleeing the violence, peaceful protesters stormed up the steps outside the Basilica, one of the oldest in Rome.

"People of Europe: Rise Up!" read one banner in Rome. Some activists turned against the violent group, trying to stop them and shouting "Enough!" and "Shame!"

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno blamed the violence on "a few thousand thugs from all over Italy, and possibly from all over Europe, who infiltrated the demonstration." Some Rome museums were forced to close down and at least one theater canceled a show.

Protesters also set fire to a building, causing the roof to collapse, reports said. The Defense Ministry denied reports it was one of its offices.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi called the violence a "worrying signal," and added that the perpetrators "must be found and punished."

Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote Friday, with many questioning his leadership. Italy's debt burden is second only to Greece in the 17-nation eurozone and the country is rapidly becoming a focus of concern in Europe's debt crisis.

ANSA said four people from an anarchist group were arrested Saturday with helmets, anti-gas masks, clubs and hundreds of bottles in their car.

Elsewhere, bright autumn sunshine and a social media campaign brought out thousands across Europe.

In Spain, the Indignant Movement that began around-the-clock "occupation" protest camps in May which lasted for weeks held evening marches Saturday that converged on Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza.

"There is a huge crowd here," said Elsa Varona, whose choir sang an excerpt from Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco overture as the marchers arrived. Organizers said 300,000 people took part, but police did not offer an estimate.

Other Spanish cities including Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and Malaga hosted similarly well-attended gatherings."

Portuguese protesters angry at their government's handling of the economic crisis pushed against police lines in Lisbon, but officers stopped them from storming parliament. Portugal is one of three European nations — along with Greece and Ireland — that has had to accept an international bailout.

In Frankfurt, continental Europe's financial hub, 5,000 people protested at the European Central Bank, with some setting up a tent camp in front of the ECB building.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange spoke to protesters outside St. Paul's Cathedral in London, calling the international banking system a "recipient of corrupt money."

The London demonstration swelled to several thousand people by early evening, and police said three were arrested. While protesters erected tents and gathered blankets, food and water to settle down for the evening, police urged them to leave, saying cathedral staff needed to prepare for Sunday services.

In Paris, marchers shook their fists and shouted as they passed the city's historic stock exchange, before congregating by the hundreds outside the ornate City Hall.

"Stand up Paris! Rise Up!" protesters shouted. "Sharing will save the world!"

The Greek capital of Athens has seen near-daily strikes and protests as the government fights to avoid bankruptcy, and Saturday was no different. Some 2,000 rallied outside parliament against a new austerity package being voted upon on Thursday, while teachers and civil servants held marches elsewhere in the city. In Thessaloniki, Greece's second city, 3,000 took part in a peaceful protest.

Several hundreds more marched in the German cities of Berlin, Cologne and Munich and the Austrian capital of Vienna, while protesters in Zurich, Switzerland's financial hub, carried banners reading "We won't bail you out yet again" and "We are the 99 percent."

That referred to the world's richest one percent, who control billions in assets while billions of others are struggling to make ends meet.

In Brussels, thousands of marched through the downtown chanting "Criminal bankers caused this crisis!" and pelted the stock exchange building with old shoes.

Protesters also accused NATO, which has its headquarters in Brussels, of wasting taxpayer money on the wars in Libya and Afghanistan, saying that one European soldier deployed to Afghanistan costs the equivalent of 11 high school teachers.

Some 300 activists rallied in Helsinki with homemade signs and stalls full of art and food.

Across the Atlantic, hundreds protested near the Toronto Stock Exchange and the headquarters of major Canadian banks to decry what they called government-abetted corporate greed. Protests were also being held in Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax and Winnipeg.

In New York, hundreds marched on a Chase bank to protest the role banks played in the financial crisis, and demonstrations culminated in an "Occupation Party" in Times Square.

In South Africa, about 50 activists rallied outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to demand more jobs, free education and universal healthcare.

Support for the anti-capitalist protest movement was light in Asia, where the global economy is booming. About 300 people turned out in Sydney, while another 200 chanted anti-nuclear slogans outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. In the Philippines, 100 people marched on the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Source: 
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Police fire tear gas as protesters riot in Rome

ROME (AP) — Italian police fired tear gas and water cannons as protesters in Rome turned a demonstration against corporate greed into a riot Saturday, smashing shop and bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles.

The protest in the Italian capital was part of "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations against capitalism and austerity measures that went global Saturday, leading to dozens of marches and protests worldwide.

Protesters hurl objects at police in Rome, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011. Protesters in Rome smashed shop windows and torched cars as violence broke out during a demonstration in the Italian capital, part of worldwide protests against corporate greed and austerity measures. The "Occupy Wall Street" protests, that began in Canada and spread to cities across the U.S., moved Saturday to Asia and Europe, linking up with anti-austerity demonstrations that have raged across the debt-ridden continent for months. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Black smoke billowed into the air in downtown Rome as a small group broke away from the main demonstration and wreaked havoc in streets closed to the Colosseum.

Protesters clad in black with their faces covered threw rocks, bottles and other objects at police in riot gear. Some had held clubs, others had hammers. They threw an incendiary devices and firecrackers at banks, destroyed bank ATMs and set trash bins on fire, news reports said.

Two news crews from Sky Italia were assaulted.

TV footage showed police in riot gear charging the protesters and firing water cannons at them.

The ANSA news agency said some protesters trashed offices of the Defense Ministry and of a labor agency, smashing windows with clubs and setting cars on fire.

Police were out in force as up to 100,000 protesters were expected a day after Premier Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a confidence vote in Parliament. Italy is rapidly becoming a focus of concern in Europe's debt crisis.

"People of Europe: Rise Up!" read a banner in Rome. Some peaceful demonstrators turned against the violent group and tried to stop them, hurling bottles, Sky Italia and ANSA said. Others fled, scared by the violence.

At least one man was injured as he tried to stop some protesters from hurling bottles.

Anarchist groups have often infiltrated demonstrations in Italy in the past. ANSA said four people from an anarchist group were arrested Saturday morning before the demonstration, with police seizing helmets, anti-gas masks, clubs and hundreds of bottles in their car.

Source:

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Protesters stage rally against Silvio Berlusconi

CLASHES broke out between police and hundreds of demonstrators staging fresh protests against Italy's scandal-plagued prime minister Silvio Berlusconi outside his villa, local media reports.

"Resign, resign!" the protesters shouted at the gates of Berlusconi's private villa in the Milan suburb of Arcore, where he was spending the weekend.

Roughly a hundred protesters tried to break a security cordon erected several hundred metres from Berlusconi's residence, sparking clashes with riot police whom they pelted with bottles and other objects.

A banner demanded "Prostitutes out of the state," in an apparent reference to allegations that Berlusconi had paid for sex with prostitutes at wild parties in the mansion, allegations the Prime Minister has denied.

Another clash took place in front of Arcore's train station with several officers, demonstrators and a journalist injured, police said. Police arrested two protesters.

The protests were organised by the "Purple People" an anti-Berlusconi group on the internet which previously held a "No Berlusconi Day" in 2009.

Judges are set to request this week that Berlusconi stand trial, while the 74-year-old has remained defiant, vowing to stay in office.

The inquiry into Berlusconi's alleged liaisons with prostitutes was first reported last month and has dominated Italian newspapers since then.

On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Milan in another anti-Berlusconi demonstration that included prominent writers Umberto Eco and Roberto Saviano.

In a separate development, a group of online activists known as "Anonymous" launched attacks yesterday against the Italian government's website, citing political grievances, ANSA news agency reported. The group announced its assaults earlier in the day, saying they were launched because "the political and economic situation in Italy has become unstable".

In particular, the group attacked the judiciary system and government, which it said was "implicated in prostitution, including minors," an apparent reference to the sex scandal dogging Berlusconi.

The website (www.governo.it) did not immediately appear to be blocked.

Source: Adelaide Now

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