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| Italian Senate Panel Votes to Strip Berlusconi of His Seat | Italian Senate Panel Votes to Strip Berlusconi of His Seat |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| ROME — A special panel of the Italian Senate on Friday voted to strip Silvio Berlusconi of his current seat, a humiliating blow for a man who has dominated Italy for the past two decades but whose political career is now very much in jeopardy. | ROME — A special panel of the Italian Senate on Friday voted to strip Silvio Berlusconi of his current seat, a humiliating blow for a man who has dominated Italy for the past two decades but whose political career is now very much in jeopardy. |
| The expulsion vote against Mr. Berlusconi, based on his recent tax fraud conviction, represents his second setback of the week, after his failed attempt to bring down the country’s fragile coalition government. The full Senate will probably decide by the end of the month whether to expel Mr. Berlusconi, though a vote against him is now considered very likely. | The expulsion vote against Mr. Berlusconi, based on his recent tax fraud conviction, represents his second setback of the week, after his failed attempt to bring down the country’s fragile coalition government. The full Senate will probably decide by the end of the month whether to expel Mr. Berlusconi, though a vote against him is now considered very likely. |
| Mr. Berlusconi, 77, a former prime minister and billionaire media mogul, who once wielded power with a swagger, had fought for weeks to prevent the expulsion vote. Many analysts say his effort to topple the government was partly intended to interrupt or delay the proceedings against him in the Senate. But a mutiny of his center-right supporters forced him to make a public reversal and support the government in a parliamentary confidence vote. | Mr. Berlusconi, 77, a former prime minister and billionaire media mogul, who once wielded power with a swagger, had fought for weeks to prevent the expulsion vote. Many analysts say his effort to topple the government was partly intended to interrupt or delay the proceedings against him in the Senate. But a mutiny of his center-right supporters forced him to make a public reversal and support the government in a parliamentary confidence vote. |
| “It’s a loss on all fronts for a man who is at the end of his career,” said Stefano Folli, a political commentator for the daily newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. “Now his twilight will be swifter. This clearly has a highly political and symbolic value.” | “It’s a loss on all fronts for a man who is at the end of his career,” said Stefano Folli, a political commentator for the daily newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. “Now his twilight will be swifter. This clearly has a highly political and symbolic value.” |
| Mr. Berlusconi, who has spent most of the past two months out of the public eye, must now prepare to begin serving a one-year prison sentence on Oct. 15, most likely under house arrest, for the tax fraud conviction. He is also awaiting a ruling from a court in Milan, which will decide how many years he will be barred from seeking public office, based on the same conviction. | Mr. Berlusconi, who has spent most of the past two months out of the public eye, must now prepare to begin serving a one-year prison sentence on Oct. 15, most likely under house arrest, for the tax fraud conviction. He is also awaiting a ruling from a court in Milan, which will decide how many years he will be barred from seeking public office, based on the same conviction. |
| His legal troubles have shaken the center-right political movement he has led for the past two decades. Analysts say that Mr. Berlusconi, if often controversial, has nonetheless been the undisputed, central figure who has shaped his party. But with his career in trouble, several longtime protégés and followers abandoned him before the confidence vote and even spoke of splitting his People of Freedom Party. | His legal troubles have shaken the center-right political movement he has led for the past two decades. Analysts say that Mr. Berlusconi, if often controversial, has nonetheless been the undisputed, central figure who has shaped his party. But with his career in trouble, several longtime protégés and followers abandoned him before the confidence vote and even spoke of splitting his People of Freedom Party. |
| His loyalists have fought fiercely to derail the expulsion proceedings, arguing that the move is unconstitutional. Lucio Malan, a senator with Mr. Berlusconi’s party and a member of the special panel, described Friday’s vote as “very grave” and promised that the center-right would make its arguments before the full Senate. | |
| But members of the center-left Democratic Party, the longtime opponents of Mr. Berlusconi, framed Friday’s vote as an example of rule of law. | But members of the center-left Democratic Party, the longtime opponents of Mr. Berlusconi, framed Friday’s vote as an example of rule of law. |
| “This is an instrument that protects Parliament and prevents people convicted for serious crimes from sitting in Parliament,” Felice Casson, a Democratic Party senator, said during an interview on Italian television. “In my opinion, we decided in a serene way, and we applied the law.” | “This is an instrument that protects Parliament and prevents people convicted for serious crimes from sitting in Parliament,” Felice Casson, a Democratic Party senator, said during an interview on Italian television. “In my opinion, we decided in a serene way, and we applied the law.” |
| For his part, Mr. Berlusconi has seemed erratic in recent weeks. Party insiders say he fears that Italy’s magistrates, long his adversaries, will now have the leeway to bring a fusillade of new investigations against him and could even put him in jail. As a senator, Mr. Berlusconi enjoys certain immunities from prosecution or detention. | For his part, Mr. Berlusconi has seemed erratic in recent weeks. Party insiders say he fears that Italy’s magistrates, long his adversaries, will now have the leeway to bring a fusillade of new investigations against him and could even put him in jail. As a senator, Mr. Berlusconi enjoys certain immunities from prosecution or detention. |
| As yet, public attitudes are difficult to gauge. Pro-Berlusconi posters began appearing in Rome on Friday as the Senate panel deliberated. Yet a recent survey showed that his People of Freedom Party, recently leading in national polls, has since slipped to second place, behind the Democratic Party. | |
| “This week has marked the almost complete decline for Mr. Berlusconi,” Mr. Folli said. | “This week has marked the almost complete decline for Mr. Berlusconi,” Mr. Folli said. |