Opposition fails to stop Berlusconi bill

The lower house of Italy's parliament defied a walkout by opposition legislators yesterday to back a government-sponsored bill intended to resolve concern over the conflict of interest between the public office of Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister, and his £7bn business empire.

The bill, which critics say is toothless, passed with 308 votes in favour and two abstentions. It now goes to the Senate, where Mr Berlusconi's coalition also enjoys a comfortable majority.

Members of the opposition, which had five years in power but failed to enact a conflict-of-interest law, decried the measure as a "farce" and a "fraud." The vote came after two days of furious debate that included shouting matches, insults and cries of "Shame!" from the opposition bench.

The bill says holding public office is incompatible with running a company, but not "mere ownership of a private company or of a company stake or its shares". Centre-left lawmakers say the measure was tailor-made to fit Mr Berlusconi.

It designates an existing watchdog authority to monitor any conflicts and report them to parliament, which could then decide what to do.(AP)