Prodi defies quit calls after parliamentary vote defeat

A defeat in parliament for Premier Romano Prodi raised new worries today about the stability of Italy’s centre-left governing coalition and prompted opposition calls for the premier’s resignation.

The centre-right opposition in the Italian Senate passed a motion Thursday praising the government’s approval of US military base expansion in Vicenza. It was an odd show of support that was seen as a political blow to Prodi, who was perceived as lacking political support from his own allies on this and other foreign policy issues.

Prodi quickly released a statement pledging to call a meeting of majority parties to “reaffirm” the government’s foreign policy lines, and accusing the opposition of adopting an “apocalyptic tone” and drawing “extreme conclusions”.

Former premier and opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi said today that the defeat should prompt Prodi to resign.

“A government that doesn’t have a majority on foreign policy is not politically legitimised to govern,” Berlusconi said in a statement. “The government’s resignation is a painfully needed act to remove the country from a serious and paradoxical situation.”

Prodi responded by saying he had no intention of stepping down.

“One resigns where there is a real and deep crisis. That is not the case today,” Prodi said.

The Senate vote had no immediate consequences, but it puts the governing coalition in a tight spot before a divisive vote to refinance Italy’s 1,800-strong military mission in Afghanistan. Prodi’s Communist and Green Party allies want to end the mission.

“I have a hunch that now there will be more problems on Afghanistan,” Giovanni Russo Spena, Senate whip for a communist party, was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The government approved the refinancing with a decree last month, but the measure must be approved by parliament within 60 days. Prodi’s coalition holds a mere one-seat majority in the Senate.

“The risk is that now there will be a free-for-all on the Afghanistan vote,” Paolo Cento, a Greens leader and economy undersecretary, told Corriere.

Earlier this month, Prodi said his government had no reason to halt US plans for extending its military base at Vicenza, despite strong opposition to the project from the radical left within the governing coalition.

On Thursday, the centre-left had decided against bringing up an item on the proposed expansion for discussion, fearing it lacked the necessary support in the Senate. The opposition then filed its own motion to approve a report by defence minister Arturo Parisi on the base expansion, and it passed.

The US base in Vicenza has about 2,600 active duty personnel. The expansion at the nearby Dal Molin airport would allow the US military to add another 1,600 personnel by bringing in four battalions from Germany, where they are now based.