Getting your player ready...
ROME — Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi pledged Saturday to put his government to a make-or-break confidence vote to see whether his weakened coalition still has enough support in Parliament to survive.
Berlusconi wrote to the presidents of the Senate and the lower Chamber of Deputies saying he decided to seek the crucial vote in view of the planned pullout next week from his Cabinet of ministers loyal to breakaway ally Gianfranco Fini.
If Berlusconi loses a confidence vote, he must resign. If the center-right leader can’t assemble another government, President Giorgio Napolitano can call early elections, widely expected to be held next spring.
