Renzi tries to allay 'pro-Berlusconi' tax measure row

(ANSA) - Rome, January 6 - Premier Matteo Renzi said Tuesday he will postpone a controversial tax-fraud decree to a February 20 cabinet meeting. "To avoid controversy affecting the (presidential election) and reforms, I think it is opportune to ...insert this decree into the tax reform package (slated for cabinet debate) February 20," the premier wrote on his website. "We are changing the tax system for the Italian people not for Berlusconi," Renzi added. "We won't give anybody a free pass, not even Berlusconi, who will serve every last day of his sentence".
    The premier was referring to Article 19-bis of a government legislative decree approved by cabinet December 24, which would have depenalized tax fraud "when the sum of evaded taxes does not exceed 3% of declared taxable income". Renzi suspended the decree on Sunday after Article 19-bis sparked a public outcry because it could in theory be used to annul the August 2013 tax-fraud conviction and consequent ban from public office of media mogul and former premier, Silvio Berlusconi.
    A court in April 2014 ordered the billionaire media mogul to serve out the remaining year of a four-year sentence for a 370-million-euro tax fraud at his Mediaset media empire by working at least four hours a week at a nursing home in the town of Cesano Boscone, near Milan.
    Political forces are currently lining up to vie for the post of president of the republic, which incumbent Giorgio Napolitano has announced he will vacate as soon as Italy hands over the reins of its duty six-month European Union presidency on January 13.
    News of Article 19-bis, which pundits soon dubbed the Save-Berlusconi measure, raised hackles across the political spectrum as it fomented suspicions of a back-room deal between Renzi and Berlusconi, who has pledged the support of his center-right Forza Italia (FI) party for the center-left premier's electoral law reform bill.