A feisty-sounding Silvio Berlusconi insists that despite defections from his shaky coalition he still commands enough support in parliament to enact urgently needed measures to save Italy from financial disaster.
"We maintain that there are no alternatives to our government until 2013," when elections are due, the Italian prime minister said, addressing a political gathering by audio hookup on Sunday.
He was defying increasingly loud calls in the country, including from some from his own coalition's ranks, to either broaden his government's forces by bringing in opposition centrists or to have Berlusconi step down so that an interim government could be appointed until early elections could be held.
Berlusconi dismissed both scenarios as offensive to the electorate that had resoundingly voted for him in 2008 elections.
"I don't see (the possibility) of broad backing for a leader put in place to the disrespect of Italians," Berlusconi said. An interim government, "with a puppet as premier", was likewise unacceptable, he added.
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This week brings the first in a string of votes in parliament on reforms and other stopgap measures to get Italy's finances in order and revive the dormant economy.
The prime minister insisted that his latest sounding out of his allies in parliament "has verified that we have the numbers, for sure" to pass the measures. But should the government fall short in the votes, Berlusconi said, early elections would be the only alternative.
Still, "We don't want elections. We want to govern," he added.
There is growing concern Berlusconi no longer commands enough loyalty among MPs to ensure the quick passage that European and international financial officials say Rome must achieve to avoid falling victim to a dramatic debt crisis like that bringing Greece to its knees.
During an economic summit in France last week, Berlusconi asked the International Monetary Fund to monitor the country's reform efforts, a humiliating step for the eurozone's third-largest economy.
If his forces lose upcoming votes on the measures, the Italian president, who has repeatedly called on Berlusconi to take decisive steps immediately to rescue the nation, could intervene and rule that it is time for a new government.
