Embattled former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's decision to order five ministers from his People of Freedom Party to resign from the newly-formed coalition of Enrico Letta's cabinet has plunged Italy into political chaos, leaving the euro-zone's third-largest economy without a functioning government, Reuters reported.
However, by Sunday, four of the five ministers who had been asked to resign by Berlusconi, did not approve the direction his party was going in, news reports said.
Despite being convicted by an Italian High Court for tax fraud, Berlusconi still wields a political influence in Italy. He is due to serve a one-year sentence under house arrest or serve considerable community service beginning in October. The Senate committee will also soon decide whether Berlusconi would be stripped of his seat in the parliament's upper house.
"There is a climate of evident uncertainty regarding the possible developments of the political situation," President Giorgiio Napolitano recenty said to reporters.
Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who was elected five months ago, said Sunday that a parliamentary vote, which will likely take place on Wednesday, will be needed in order to clarify whether his five-month old coalition government can be able to survive, BBC News reported.
Berlusconi said last Saturday that his decision to withdraw support from Letta's government was due to the new prime minister's failure to pass certain economic measures, specifically a postponement of a sales tax, which is due to take effect this week. This measure proved to be the "breaking point" for Berlusconi, news reports said.
Berlusconi who recently turned 77, remained confident his party would win despite great uncertainty in the political sphere and his pending house arrest. In June, the flamboyant former prime minister was found guilty of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from holding public office by a panel of three judges in Milan.
Berlusconi has sought appeal in that case.
"The only way is to proceed with conviction to elections as soon as possible," he told reporters over the weekend.
"All the opinion polls tell us that we will win," referring to his center-right party.
Berlusconi, however, appeared less defiant as the weekend progressed, underscoring that his party would support a budget proposed by Letta's government in 2014, if it proved beneficial for the country.
In recent days, Berlusconi had accused Letta of neglecting his duties as prime minister.
Italian business markets were 'jolted' on Monday with news of the coalition's collapse, CNN reported.
