Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday ruled out calling early elections to stem market panic that has pounded Italian assets and forced his government to bring forward austerity measures.
Berlusconi’s conservative government has been weakened by infighting, and the leftist opposition has called for a government of technocrats to restore credibility in the country’s finances. Italy is due to go to the polls in 2013.
But Berlusconi dismissed any suggestion of emulating Spain, where Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has called an early election to tackle the crisis.
“This has never been an option.”
