Silvio Berlusconi faces expulsion from parliament

Former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi faces expulsion from parliament over his conviction for tax fraud.

The Senate will vote later on whether to expel the former prime minister.

Analysts say a large majority of senators is expected to back his expulsion.

The former PM has called for supporters to protest in Rome against what he says is a political vendetta.

The vote comes a day after Silvio Berlusconi withdrew his Forza Italia party from the coalition government.

Silvio Berlusconi, who has dominated politics for nearly two decades in Italy, had asked senators to delay the vote on his expulsion because he claims to have new evidence proving he did not commit tax fraud.

However, the vote is expected to go ahead on Wednesday evening.

Silvio Berlusconi, 77, threatened to topple the coalition government over the issue earlier this year but backed down during a confidence vote.

He old has dismissed the Senate, which is dominated by his political opponents, as biased against him.

Silvio Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud in October 2012 over deals his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films. The verdict was upheld in August.

Expulsion from parliament may lead to Silvio Berlusconi’s arrest over other criminal cases, as he would lose his immunity from prosecution.

He will have to serve a one-year sentence for his tax conviction, probably under house arrest or by doing community service because of his age.

Silvio Berlusconi has also been convicted of paying for s** with an underage prostitute and of a breach of confidentiality over a police wiretap. He is appealing against both convictions.

Both PM Enrico Letta’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and former comedian Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement have said they will vote against Silvio Berlusconi.

Enrico Letta’s government survived a confidence vote on the 2014 budget on Tuesday with the help of a group of dissidents who broke away from Berlusconi’s party earlier this month.

Silvio Berlusconi had said earlier that his party would vote against the budget, and the Forza Italia leader in the lower house soon declared that the party was moving into opposition.

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