05/08/2013 12:31
Berlusconi backs government at rally against tax conviction
Thousands of supporters of Silvio Berlusconi protested in Rome on Sunday against a tax fraud conviction that has rocked Italy's fragile coalition, but the center-right leader said the government must continue, Reuters reported.
Addressing the 2,000-strong crowd, a subdued Berlusconi again bitterly attacked what he calls leftist judges and insisted he was innocent, but said he would continue to support the shaky coalition of his center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party with the center-left Democratic Party (PD) of Prime Minister Enrico Letta.
"We have said loud and clear that the government must go forward to approve the economic measures that we asked for and were agreed," Berlusconi told the rally, making clear that he was in no rush to force a snap election as some of his hawkish supporters have demanded.
"What drives us is not our personal interests. Always the interests of everyone and of our Italy come first."
Italy's supreme court on Thursday upheld a four-year jail sentence - commuted to one year - for the media mogul.