ROME (AP) — A leader of Italy's center-left opposition is leading a huge rally in Rome against Premier Silvio Berlusconi as confidence votes on the conservative government looms in Parliament.
Pier Luigi Bersani, who heads the Democratic Party, drew cheers Saturday evening in St. John’s Lateran Square, packed with 100,000 supporters who’d marched for hours through Rome.
Bersani demands that Berlusconi leave power. The media mogul’s government has been weakened by defections of allies, but Berlusconi boosts he’ll win the confidence votes Tuesday. If not, he’ll have to resign.
Rome magistrates are investigating allegations by another opposition leader that Berlusconi and his allies have been "buying" votes of waffling legislators. Berlusconi’s camp denies that.
