SENATE SPEAKER MENTIONS EARLY ELECTIONS

SENATE SPEAKER MENTIONS EARLY ELECTIONS

(ANSA) - Rome, November 17 - Senate Speaker Renato Schifani said on Tuesday the country should head towards early general elections if the centre-right government is unable to heal rifts and fulfil its electoral pledges.

Schifani made no direct reference to House Speaker Gianfranco Fini, who has increasingly distanced himself from Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Politicians, he said, should not "betray their voters' decision" nor "disorient them", a clear reference to the rift between Fini's new liberal-minded stances on immigration and constitutional and judicial reforms.

"The majority's job is to guarantee cohesiveness so that Parliament can approve its programme. If this cohesiveness goes missing, the result is that the electoral pact (with voters) cannot be fulfilled. If this happens, voters should be called on to give their decision," he said.

Talk of early elections because of rifts in the majority have dominated the front pages of the Italian press over the last few weeks.