Italy PM Enrico Letta must confirm new coalition in parliament - president

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta must ask parliament to confirm its backing of his government after centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party withdrew its support two days ago, the country's president said on Thursday.

Since Letta won a confidence vote in the Senate over the 2014 budget without the backing of Forza Italia on Tuesday, the confirmation is likely to be a procedural formality done at the request of Berlusconi's party. Forza Italia had been a member of the ruling right-left coalition since April, when it was put together to end a political stalemate that followed a deadlocked national election in February.

After meeting a Forza Italia delegation, President Giorgio Napolitano said "there will no doubt be a parliamentary passage to mark the shift from the grand coalition government to the one that won confidence over the budget", a spokesman said. The "form and timing" of the parliamentary discussion will be discussed by the president and Letta in coming days, the spokesman said. It is not clear whether Letta will have to seek another confidence vote. Forza Italia abandoned the coalition a day before Berlusconi's expulsion from the Senate over a tax fraud conviction. Forza Italia said it could not govern with Letta's Democratic Party because it planned to vote to strip the centre-right leader of his seat.