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Amid the most serious crisis of his political career, beleaguered Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said that if his government loses a no-confidence vote set for Dec. 14 he will resign and call for new elections.
Critics of the prime minister have taken steps to make sure the country' s 2011 budget -- which by law must be passed before the end of the year -- will be voted on during the first 10 days of December, allowing the no-confidence vote to take place sooner. As things stand, Berlusconi will make his case to lawmakers on Dec. 13, and the vote will follow the next day.
In televised remarks late Wednesday, Berlusconi's first national address since the political crisis reached a fever pitch after a former ally called for Berlusconi' s resignation Nov. 7, the prime minister remained emboldened.
He argued that his support among Italian citizens was stronger than reported and predicted he would win the confidence vote. But he also allowed that if he loses he would step down and permit new elections.
According to two new polls, it appears that Berlusconi's support levels are beginning to level off after a rapid decline. The polling company Opinioni released a poll Thursday showing Berlusconi retained the support of 27.9 percent of Italians, a slight rise from the previous poll but still within the margin of error.
A poll released a day earlier by IPR showed that 28.5 percent of Italians said they would vote for Berlusconi's party if an election were held immediately, down slightly from a similar poll two weeks earlier.
"Since he returned to Italy [from the Group of 20 summit in South Korea] Berlusconi has tried to cast himself as the victim of unsavory critics," Maria Rossi, co-director of Opinioni, told Xinhua.
"That tactic is starting to gain a little traction. Unless something unexpected happens, we may be seeing floor for the prime minister' s approval levels," Rossi said.
Even if Berlusconi's support level seems to be holding steady, bad news keeps rolling in.
The lower house of parliament announced Wednesday that it would hold a no-confidence vote against Sandro Bondi, the Minister of Culture and a key Berlusconi ally, in connection with a wall that collapsed in the archeological ruins of Pompeii.
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