Berlusconi defeated, decides to back Italy govt

Rome: Silvio Berlusconi has announced his party will vote to support the government of Premier Enrico Letta, a major turnabout that signals he was defeated in his efforts to bring down the government.

In brief remarks Wednesday before the confidence vote, Berlusconi said: “Italy needs a government that can produce structural and institutional reforms that the country needs to modernize. We have decided, not without internal strife, to vote in confidence.”

It was a huge setback for Berlusconi. He had demanded his five Cabinet ministers quit the government and bring it down. He is incensed at a vote planned Friday that could strip him of his Senate seat following his tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence.

AP