Berlusconi Allies Jumping Ship on Attempt to Collapse Italian Government

Will vote to keep Enrico Letta's five-month-old government

Several of ex-Premier Berlusconi's top aides are defying him in his bid to collapse Italy's coalition government, a rare challenge to his authority.

Carlo Giovanardi, a longtime stalwart, told reporters Tuesday on the eve of a showdown in Parliament that more than 40 of Berlusconi's center-right lawmakers will vote to keep Premier Enrico Letta's five-month-old government afloat. That might ensure center-left leader Letta wins any confidence vote pegged to the government's survival.