President Giorgio Napolitano warned on Friday that despite a "serious conflict" in the governing majority he will avoid calling early elections because these would harm the country and the economy. In an interview with leftist daily L’Unita’, Napolitano said that dissolving parliament would lead to "a political void" and create problems for the economy which has shown " positive signs of recovery". "If we face a political void and head towards a fierce electoral contest, what would be the consequences for the country," he asked, making it absolutely clear that he only has the constitutional prerogative to dissolve parliament.

The president said he would "take every step which the constitution dictates," indicating that he would work so that an alternative government can be formed if Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s loses a vote of confidence in the House when parliament reconvenes in September. The 85-year-old president said it was "time to tone down the polemics" and consider the country’s welfare and solving its problems rather than having political showdowns and making threatening announcements. It was the first time that the president has weighed in since the political crisis sparked by Berlusconi’s ouster last month of House Speaker Gianfranco Fini from the People of Freedom (PdL) party they officially co-founded last year. Although the centre-right swept to victory in the 2008 general elections and enjoyed a huge majority in the Senate and the House, Fini and Berlusconi grew irreparably apart over the last two years. Their rift came to a head last April when the two had a public clash during a PdL party meeting.

Fini and his 44 supporters have formed their own ‘Future and Freedom’ (FLI) groups in the House and Senate and abstained in a key no confidence vote against a government member last week, temporarily saving Berlusconi but proving they now have the power to topple him. Northern League leader Umberto Bossi, Berlusconi’s ally and close friend, said this week that elections appear to be the only way out of the impasse. The centre-left opposition has called for the formation of an alternative government to steer the country towards elections but only after changing the current electoral laws and measures to ensure media pluralism. In the interview, Napolitano also referred to the ongoing campaign against Fini by papers close to Berlusconi, including Il Giornale, owned by the premier’s brother Paolo. "It is time to end a gravely destabilising campaign aimed at delegitimising the president of one of the branches of parliament," he told l’Unita’. This was a direct reference to charges by Il Giornale that Fini was involved in the shadowy sale to an offshore company of an apartment in Monte Carlo willed to the right-wing party which he led before merging it with the PdL. FLI MPs say Il Giornale is waging a smear campaign to defame Fini, who denies wrongdoing, and has sued the paper. Neverthless, other dailies, including Italy’s leading Corriere della Sera, have begun devoting front-page attention to the story since a judicial probe on the sale began last week. Critics, including opposition Italy of Values (IdV) party leader Antonio Di Pietro, say Fini’s explanations in a detailed statement on Sunday have come too late and are not sufficient. On Thursday Berlusconi offered "an olive branch" to the FLI, praising some of Fini’s more dovish rebels who have been working for a rapprochement. "It’s possible to find unity with a more constructive approach," he said in a message.

The crisis sparked by the Berlusconi-Fini rift has also been sharply criticized by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, head of Ferrari and former president of Fiat and industrial employers’ association Confindustria. His Italia Futura think tank on Thursday blasted Berlusconi, Fini and Bossi, saying they were "duty bound to end an institutional clash which is unworthy of a civilised country". Confindustria Chairman Emma Marcegaglia on Friday also denounced the government, calling for an end to the ongoing insults, which she said were an "unseemly spectacle". The government has wasted the opportunity of adopting much needed reforms and politicians have to show a sense of responsibility because they are "playing with the country’s future", she warned. Photo: President Giorgio Napolitano arriving in Naples on Friday after a week-long holiday.