Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that
he feared a victory by Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement (M5S) in Sunday's European elections could trigger
early general elections in Italy.
"I think we should look at the hypothesis of early
elections very carefully," the three-time premier and leader of
the opposition Forza Italia (FI) party told La7 television.
"The parliamentary term won't last (until its full term) in
2018. We'll have new elections within 18 months at most unless
something traumatic happens like Grillo winning the European
elections," he said.
"May God protect us from that".
Premier Matteo Renzi, in contrast, has said his coalition
government will not collapse even if his centre-left Democratic
Party finishes second to the M5S in Sunday's vote.
The PD had a big lead in polls, before a pre-election ban
on their publication kicked in two weeks ago.
But Grillo is confident his M5S, who are second in the
surveys after capturing a stunning 25% of the vote in last
year's general election, can come first with a late surge.
Berlusconi called for general elections in November after
he pulled his support from the left-right coalition government
of Renzi's predecessor and PD colleague Enrico Letta, shortly
before the media magnate was ejected from parliament following a
definitive tax-fraud conviction.
But he has apparently had a change of heart given the
popularity of the M5S, whose stated aim is to destroy the
current party system it blames for corruption and economic
decline.
Berlusconi, who has compared Grillo to Adolf Hitler, may
also be reluctant to see Italy return to the ballot box given
FI's showing in recent polls, where it was in third place with
under 20% of voter support.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
