Berlusconi Ministers to Quit in Move That May Speed Early Vote
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Four top officials from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government, including a Cabinet minister, will resign today in a move designed to down his administration and possibly trigger early elections.
The four are members of the new Future and Liberty for Italy Party formed by Speaker of the Chamber Gianfranco Fini who first broke with the premier in July and then called for his resignation earlier this month. Berlusconi acknowledged the defections in an e-mailed statement on Nov. 13 and said he would call confidence votes in both houses of parliament once the 2011 budget is passed to see if he still has enough support to govern.