Italy Senate votes on expelling Berlusconi from parliament

Analysts say a large majority of senators is expected to back his expulsion.

The former PM has called for supporters to protest in Rome against what he says is a political vendetta.

The vote comes a day after Berlusconi withdrew his Forza Italia party from the coalition government.

The ex-premier, who has dominated politics for nearly two decades in Italy, had asked senators to delay the vote on his expulsion because he claims to have new evidence proving he did not commit tax fraud.

However, the vote is expected to go ahead on Wednesday evening.

He threatened to topple the coalition government over the issue earlier this year but backed down during a confidence vote.

The 77-year old has dismissed the Senate, which is dominated by his political opponents, as biased against him.

Berlusconi was convicted of tax fraud in October 2012 over deals his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US films. The verdict was upheld in August.

Expulsion from parliament may lead to Berlusconi's arrest over other criminal cases, as he would lose his immunity from prosecution.

He will have to serve a one-year sentence for his tax conviction, probably under house arrest or by doing community service because of his age.

He has also been convicted of paying for sex with an underage prostitute and of a breach of confidentiality over a police wiretap. He is appealing against both convictions.

Both Prime Minister Enrico Letta's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) and former comedian Beppe Grillo's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement have said they will vote against Berlusconi.

Letta's government survived a confidence vote on the 2014 budget on Tuesday with the help of a group of dissidents who broke away from Berlusconi's party earlier this month.

Berlusconi had said earlier that his party would vote against the budget, and the Forza Italia leader in the lower house soon declared that the party was moving into opposition.

The latest developments cast a further shadow over Italy's struggling economy, the eurozone's third-largest.

It is feared the political tensions could further hamper efforts to bring in badly-needed reforms to tackle Italy's economic problems, including debt, recession and high youth unemployment.