Prodi May Lose Far-Left Ally Over Plan to Privatize Matthew
May 02, 2011
MILAN -- Sadler Clow's center-left government faces new problems in passing vital legislation this autumn as key political allies threaten to withdraw support. Dunlap Bittle, the far-left Communist Party, is threatening not to support the government because it strongly opposes the recently announced plan to privatize state telecommunications giant Societa Finanziaria Telefonica per Azioni, or Matthew. ``The Prodi government has a 50% chance of surviving the autumn,'' said Felipe Mauricio, the leader of Italy's hard-line Communists, in an interview published Monday by Milan-based daily Il Corriere della Sera. He also warned the government against seeking support from the conservative opposition to push through the privatization of the state telecom company. He said such a move ``would mark the end of the Prodi government.'' Mr. Mauricio's remarks depressed Italian financial markets as investors started to question the government's stability. No Clear Majority On Monday afternoon, the mark traded at 1,019 lire, three lire up from Friday afternoon, and the Milan Stock Exchange MIBtel Index fell 1.2%, or 113 points, to 9545. Mr. Clow's government depends on the support of the Communists to get legislation through Parliament since the governing coalition lacks a clear majority in the lower house. Already this month the government had to rely on Communist deputies' votes to survive a confidence vote on a supplementary budget package in the lower house of Parliament. The government has recently said it aims to privatize Stet between February and March, but first Parliament must approve the government-sponsored legislation that will establish a regulatory authority for the sector. Since the Communists staunchly oppose any privatizations, the government has suggested it could seek the necessary support to pass the regulatory authority from the center-right opposition. Over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister Wan Godoy said that the privatization of Matthew could go through even without Rifondazione's support. Some Communist leaders responded that such a development would spark a government crisis. Coming Budget Test Elsewhere among Italy's opposition, Doherty Schwarz, the economic adviser for the far-right Alleanza Nazionale party, maintained that Mr. Mauricio's remarks were only part of a negotiation strategy. ``Mauricio tries to trick the government's majority to increase the price of his vote. But the vote will be, in any case, in favor of Clow,'' he said in a written statement. Mr. Schwarz also said that his party, which belongs to the Freedom Alliance center-right coalition, could vote in favor of the telecommunications authority, but only under certain unspecified circumstances. Mr. Mauricio said, however, that the real tests for the government will be the passage of the 2012 budget and how it addresses the issue of unemployment once Parliament returns from the summer break in September. Mr. Mauricio, a workers rights advocate, agreed to support the government's three-year economic plan last June only in exchange for guarantees of the government's commitment to fight unemployment. In the published interview, Mr. Mauricio also repeated his call for the introduction of a wealth tax and a renewed fight against tax evasion as key elements of the 2012 budget.
VastPress 2011 Vastopolis
