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Opposition leader urges Berlusconi to go

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on 15 June 2009. Berlusconi's departure is currently being called for by opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani. (UPI Photo/Matt Cavanaugh/Pool)
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on 15 June 2009. Berlusconi's departure is currently being called for by opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani. (UPI Photo/Matt Cavanaugh/Pool) | License Photo

ROME, June 14 (UPI) -- The leader of Italy's opposition party urged Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign after a law shielding elected officials from prosecution was overturned.

The referendum was one of four issues voters turned aside in elections Sunday and Monday. So far in the counting, the Interior Ministry said 94.94 percent of voters voted to overturn a law that allows ministers to skip trials because of scheduling conflicts with official business, Adnkronos International reported Tuesday.

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"By reaching the quota [of 50 percent of the electorate plus one vote], these were referendums on divorce -- the government's divorce from the country," said Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the left-of-center Democrat Party, the country's main opposition party.

Voter turnout was about 57 percent, election officials said.

Berlusconi faces four trials in Milan concerning business dealings, abuse of office and paying an underage prostitute for sex. He denies wrongdoing in all cases.

Returns also indicate voters turned aside proposals on nuclear power in Italy and the privatization of water service, the Interior Ministry said. Voters also rejected a proposal that would have allowed water charges to be in proportion to investments made by the utility company.

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Italy's administrative reforms minister, Roberto Calderoli, a member of Berlusconi's coalition ally Northern League, called the votes a "second slap in the face" for the conservative government. Last month, Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party lost in several municipal elections, including ones in Naples and Milan, the prime minister's hometown.

Berlusconi said the government welcomed voter response, ANSA reported.

"The high turnout demonstrates the will of Italians to participate in the decisions of our future and that cannot be ignored," Berlusconi said in a statement.

Antonio Di Pietro, head of the left-leaning Italy of Values Party, called the referendum result "an irreversible victory" but stopped short of calling for Berlusconi to step aside, ANSA said.

"Calling for the premier's resignation is exploitation," Di Pietro said. "We said no to the nuclear question and established a sacrosanct principle in Article 3 of the Constitution: The law is equal for all."

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