Call for Berlusconi to quit tests coalition

Silvio Berlusconi: House arrest most likely outcome.

The head of the party that leads Italy’s government has called on Silvio Berlusconi to resign from politics after he lost his appeal against a tax fraud conviction, worsening tensions in the fragile left-right coalition.

Centre-left prime minister Enrico Letta has reacted with restraint, desperate to avoid a government crisis, but the secretary general of his Democratic Party (PD) said all citizens are equal before the law and so Berlusconi should step down.