Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday demanded a parliamentary inquiry be opened after a new book by former US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner fuelled speculation that his third government was scuppered by a conspiracy in 2011. "At the moment there are enormous facts that require an inquiry committee," the ex-premier told La7 television.
The former Treasury secretary wrote in Stress Test that in 2011, at a G-20 meeting, Europeans were pushing the White House to get involved in pressuring Berlusconi out of office at the peak of the eurozone crisis.
At the time Italy risked a Greek-style financial meltdown, sparking alarm there could be worldwide repercussions, with the spread between Italian 10-year bonds and their German counterpart ballooning to over 500 points and yields above 7%. Geithner said he opposed intervening because the US "could not have Berlusconi's "blood on our hands". On Wednesday President Giorgio Napolitano's played down the conspiracy theories, saying that Berlusconi "freely and responsibly" delivered his resignation.
Napolitano said Berlusconi's decision to resign was only explained by "political-parliamentary events", adding that any alleged "pressure or coercion" that he was subject to when he quit was "never brought to the attention" of the Head of State.
On Thursday Berlusconi rebutted the assertion that he quit of his own free will in 2011.
"My resignation was a responsible act, but it was not free," the 77-year-old media magnate said. "There was a lot of pressure". Napolitano was instrumental in engineering the emergency technocrat administration led by ex-premier Mario Monti that replaced Berlusconi's executive in November 2011.
The conspiracy theories were boosted by another book earlier this year that revealed Napolitano contacted former European commissioner Monti about the possibility of becoming premier some time before the Berlusconi government collapsed. Berlusconi says that Italy has endured a series of "coups" in recent times, including the end of his third government in 2011. Other alleged "coups" include the collapse of his first, short-lived government in 1994 after a criminal probe and his ejection from parliament last year following a definitive tax-fraud conviction. Berlusconi says that the tax-fraud conviction is part of a two-decade campaign by left-wing elements in the judiciary to wipe him from the political arena.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
