Rome: Italy`s Senate president says nearly all the senators of Silvio Berlusconi`s party have vowed to resign if the former premier is ousted from Parliament for his tax fraud conviction.
If carried out, the resignations would spark a crisis in Premier Enrico Letta`s fragile, 5-month-old left-right hybrid government.
Senate President Renato Schifani told TG4 news today that 87 of the 91 senators of Berlusconi`s People of Freedom party had turned in letters of resignation pending the October 4 vote.
Senators will decide then whether to strip Berlusconi of his seat following his tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence.
A 2012 law bans anyone sentenced to more than two years in prison from holding or running for public office for six years.
PTI
