Berlusconi under business pressure

ROME, Italy -- Silvio Berlusconi is starting work as Italy's new prime minister under pressure over the alleged "conflict" between his business and political interests.

Official results showed Berlusconi's coalition won substantial majorities in both houses of the Italian parliament in Sunday's election.

The billionaire media mogul is facing calls to act on pledges he made to propose, within 100 days of becoming premier, a law regulating conflict of interest.

Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, owns Italy's three main private TV networks as well as the soccer team AC Milan.

His defeated centre-left challenger, Francesco Rutelli, said the conflict of interest issue was "explosive" and said the media tycoon had to make good on his promise on the issue.

AUDIO CNN's Alessio Vinci: Berlusconi's conflict of interests needs to be solved straight away 621K/58 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    IN-DEPTH Italy Decides 2001   •  Berlusconi profile   •  Election issues   •  Political parties   •  Election process   •  Election fact file   •  Political timeline   •  Quick vote   •  News search   •  Audio/video archive   •  Related sites   •  Italy at a glance   •  CNNitalia.it

CNN's Richard Quest said questions remain about the mix of business and politics. He said Berlusconi will now control state television as well as the nation's main private channels.

"When it comes to the heady mix of money and power, they don't get any closer than Silvio Berlusconi," he added.

"His corporate reach goes into every area of Italian business life. Publishing, insurance, banking are just a few of the areas of the Italian economy he owns."

Official results showed Berlusconi's bloc -- made up of his Forza Italia party, the post-fascist National Alliance and the anti-immigrant Northern League -- won 368 seats in the 630-seat lower house or Chamber of Deputies.

The alliance won an absolute majority in the upper house Senate with 177 of the 315 seats being contested.

The centre-left coalition won 242 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 125 seats in the Senate.

Berlusconi said he would need only a short time to form a government following his coalition's victory.

He also promised Italians that he would keep his campaign promises to cut taxes and create over a million jobs.

Berlusconi, 64, appeared on state television on Monday night against a backdrop of gilt-framed oil paintings and antiques at his Milan villa.

He said: "I am convinced that you all feel the need for a government that governs and for a premier who speaks less and works more and better."

Last week, he went on state television to sign a symbolic "contract" with Italians, promising to cut taxes, create 1.5 million jobs, increase pension payments and create new public works projects.

He vowed to leave politics at the end of parliament's five-year term if he failed to meet his campaign promises.

On Monday, he reaffirmed that pledge, saying "This is the commitment I have made and I will work to keep it."

Rutelli has said Italians would pay dearly for some of Berlusconi's other promises, such as raising pensions.

He has predicted that the country might no longer qualify to participate in the European Union's common currency if economic austerity is not the rule.

Despite the bitterness of the election campaign, Berlusconi said his coalition was open to "dialogue" with the opposition in Parliament -- but only "within the limits of a responsible opposition."

Berlusconi's victory was greeted with a mixed reaction in Europe, with right-wing forces welcoming a new conservative government but left-leaning politicians and commentators far more cautious.

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, a Socialist, said: "We are watching closely what this government will be and what it will do."

U.S. President George Bush congratulated Berlusconi and the State Department said Washington hoped to "enjoy a co-operative and fruitful relationship" with his government, Italy's 59th since World War II.

Berlusconi was last in power in 1994, but his government fell after seven months when a key ally, the Northern League, pulled out of the coalition.

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