Subversives planning palace coup against me, says Silvio Berlusconi

Italy is facing a subversive plot by forces determined to impose an unelected leader on the country, according to Silvio Berlusconi. In a speech to a business lobby group, the embattled Prime Minister said that he believed a “palace coup” was being planned to oust him. “There is a campaign of scandals against me. It is a subversive plan because its aim is to bring down a Prime Minister and to put in his place another not elected by Italians. If that is not subversion, tell me what is.” Although Mr Berlusconi did not identify the alleged plotters, Francesco Cossiga, a former Italian President and Prime Minister, said that those behind the scheme planned to install Mario Draghi, the governor of the Bank of Italy, as the head of a caretaker government of national unity. Mr Draghi, the head of the central bank for the last three and a half years, declined to comment.

The Prime Minister’s latest claim about a plot to oust him was seized on by opponents who say that the scandal surrounding his personal life is eroding his support within the country and in his governing right-wing coalition. They say that Mr Berlusconi’s authority has been undermined by an inquiry into the use of state aircraft to fly showgirls and other guests to parties at his villa in Sardinia, and that the pressure in recent weeks has made him unpredictable. Among those flown in was Noemi Letizia, 18, an aspiring model with whom Mr Berlusconi, 72, has formed a friendship that he has failed to explain in full. Although he denies that anything “spicy” occurred with Ms Letizia, his wife has asked for a divorce on the basis that he “frequents minors”.

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6499350.ece