On the fourth vote Francesco Nitto Palma was elected president of the Senate Justice Commission. There were 13 votes in favour, the same as in the first ballots, but at this point in the process the quorum had dropped to a simple majority.
Four preferences went to the exponent of the 5 Star Movement Mario Giarrusso. Eight blank ballots, one blank. Once again, therefore, the former Minister of Justice lacked the votes of the Democratic Party, which even during the negotiation stage had agreed on the name of Nitto Palma with the PDL.
Meanwhile, tension is growing in Silvio Berlusconi's party for the appeal sentence of the Mediaset trial, waiting for mid-afternoon. In the first instance, the Knight was sentenced to four years' imprisonment and banned from holding public office for five years. The accusation is of tax fraud and refers to the alleged irregularities in the sale of some TV rights by the Biscione.
The judges of the second criminal section of the Milan Court of Appeal - now in private - rejected the request of Berlusconi's defense, who wanted to suspend the hearing to wait for the decisions of the Consulta on the attribution conflict raised in March 2010 on the order in which the court had denied the postponement of a hearing on grounds of legitimate impediment.
Two days ago the Cassation had rejected another request made by the ex Premier's lawyers, who asked to transfer the Mediaset and Ruby trials from Milan to Brescia on the basis of a "legitimate suspicion" relating to the alleged partiality of the Milanese judges.
