Berlusconi rating on steady decline

ROME, Sunday

The approval rating for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government has fallen steadily in recent months, partly due to a controversial tax amnesty, but remains at a solid 44 per cent, a poll showed.

The survey, published in today’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, showed the government’s popularity had declined from 54.1 per cent in January. Its ratings spiked briefly in May, in response to its handling of April’s earthquake in central Italy, but have steadily fallen since then.

Tax amnesty

The ISPO poll showed around 70 per cent of Italians disapproved of the controversial tax amnesty approved by parliament on October 2 as part of a raft of measures to respond to Italy’s worst economic downturn since World War Two.

The legislation allows Italians to repatriate undeclared funds held in foreign tax havens in return for a 5 per cent payment. It wipes the slate clean for the crime of false accounting, prompting criticism from opposition parties that it rewarded tax evaders and would benefit organised crime.

The survey showed the conservative government’s approval rating falling among its far-right Northern League coalition partners to 74 per cent, amid complaints of a lack of incisiveness by the executive. (Reuters)