New elections in Italian political scenery?

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi, despite the ruling by the High Court about the unconstitutionality of so-called “Lodo Alfano”, the law granting immunity from prosecution for the four most important offices in Italian government, has said, supported by his centre-right allies, that he won’t leave his office until the end of the term:«The Constitutional Court is a political organ, but we’ll carry on. The trials against me are a farce,» he said yesterday, after a meeting with his collaborators:«People are with me. The decision of the court is against the wish of the Italians, who voted for me in the last election!»

The words of his ally, Umberto BossiUmberto Bossi, leader of “Lega Nord”, the strong Northern party which advocates the transformation of Italy into a federal State, fiscal federalism and greater regional autonomy, especially for the Northern regions, echo the atmosphere in the government’s majority:«If we need, we will start by dragging in the people,» he said before the court sentence was public.

The opposition, instead, solicits new elections, even if it's still far to find a charismatic leader after the last lost election in 2008. The primary elections for the leadership of the Democratic Party, the most important party of the opposition, are fixed for the next October 25th, but none of the three candidates - Pierluigi Bersani, Dario Franceschini and Ignazio Marini - seems really able to contest the power of Berlusconi’s coalition in new imminent elections.
Formally, the next general elections are scheduled for 2013; in the same year the term of President Giorgio NapolitanoGiorgio Napolitano ends and Silvio Berlusconi, who has never hidden the ambition for the Presidential office, could be a potential candidate.