After G. Fini was expelled from the PdL on July 29, 2010, as he was a. increasing criticism of Berlusconi’s management styleHad practiced, Fini’s supporters formed a new parliamentary group called “Futuro e Libertà per l’Italia” (FLI). On November 12, 2010, the opposition introduced a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Berlusconi in the House of Representatives, three days later the four members of the FLI parliamentary group left the cabinet. In the vote on the motion of no confidence in the House of Representatives on December 14, 2010, 314 MPs expressed confidence in Berlusconi, 311 voted against him, and 2 abstained. Shortly before, the Prime Minister had already won a vote of confidence in the Senate that he had brought about with 162 to 135 votes. Nevertheless, Berlusconi lost more and more public reputation through private affairs.
In January 2011, the Constitutional Court declared a law passed in 2010 that it Berlusconi to be unlawful had allowed to block legal proceedings against him by absenteeism. The head of government was brought to trial in 2011 because of the allegations of abuse of office and of favoring the prostitution of minors. At the same time, his government suffered a political defeat when the population voted in referendums in June 2011, among other things. spoke out against the construction of nuclear power plants and against a new procedural law. Against the background of the European debt crisis, the majority of the Senate and the House of Representatives approved an austerity package of € 48 billion in July 2011 in order to drastically reduce the country’s new debt. In September 2011, another savings package followed in the amount of around € 54 billion. At the same time, the Berlusconi House of Representatives spoke trust out. Despite the consolidation measures, rating agencies assessed Italy’s creditworthiness critically. In September and October 2011, all three leading agencies downgraded the creditworthiness of Italian government bonds. As the Italian sovereign debt crisis escalated, Berlusconi found himself exposed to increasing pressure within the EU as well. After further austerity measures had been passed by the Italian parliament, he finally announced his resignation on November 12, 2011. His successor was on November 16, 2011, the former EU Commissioner M. Monti at the head of a transitional cabinet of non-party experts, which was supported by the established parties with the exception of the Northern League. For more articles about Italy and Europe, please follow Thereligionfaqs.
The new Prime Minister presented a drastic savings plan which, in addition to raising the retirement age with lower pensions at the same time, also provided for an increase in VAT and a significant increase in property and property tax. Monti’s austerity plans were viewed critically in parts of the public. Nonetheless, the government tried to continue the consolidation efforts it had initiated. Accompanied by resistance from the trade unions and public protests, parliament passed a labor market reform. At the beginning of July 2012, Monti presented a program to cut public spending by € 26 billion by the end of 2014. The former head of government Berlusconi was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on October 26, 2012 for tax fraud, three of which were granted by the Milan court under an amnesty regulation. Berlusconi appealed the judgment. In addition, a chain of scandals about the PdL parties and their former coalition partner Lega Nord (LN) shook Italian politics. In April 2012, prosecutors opened an investigation into LN officials accused of fraud and illegal party funding. That same month, longtime LN chairman U. Bossi announced his resignation after he was accused of embezzling party funds for private purposes. In the Lazio region, it became known that numerous PdL MPs had embezzled parliamentary group funds. The PdL-led regional government resigned in September 2012. In October 2012, the regional parliament of Lombardy was dissolved after a bribery scandal. Against the background of these events, skepticism towards the established political forces increased. V. a. the protest party MoVimento 5 Stelle (M5S) led by the TV comedian and internet activist Beppe Grillo.
On December 6, 2012, the PdL senators of the Monti government refused to support a vote in the second chamber of parliament. In addition, S. Berlusconi announced his top candidacy for the next parliamentary elections. As a result of these developments, after the adoption of the budget laws for 2013, Monti submitted his resignation as head of government on December 21, 2012. Thereupon the parliament was dissolved on December 22nd, 2012. On 24./25. 2. In 2013 the elections were held two months early. The center-left alliance »Italia. Bene Comune «under the leadership of P. L. Bersani with 29.5% of the votes and 340 seats, the majority in the House of Representatives. The center-right “Centrodestra” with the top candidate S. Berlusconi received 29.1% of the vote and 126 seats. Third strongest force was MoVimento 5 Stelle with 25.5% of the votes and 109 mandates. In the Senate, none of the parties or party alliances could achieve an absolute majority. The formation of a government therefore proved extremely difficult. Due to the disagreement between the various camps, it was also not possible to elect a new head of state in five ballots in April 2013. In order to break the political blockade, President Napolitano stood up who actually no longer wanted to run for candidacy, is available for renewed candidacy. On April 20, 2013, the delegates of the electoral assembly confirmed him in a sixth round of voting with 738 out of 1007 votes. Napolitano was able to reach a consensus between the PD, PdL and SC very quickly on the formation of a joint coalition. On April 28, 2013, the new cabinet led by E. Letta (PD) was sworn in.
