Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, buoyed by a strong showing regional polls, promised reforms on Saturday to "free" Italy from stifling taxes and red tape and to boost the power of the executive, Reuters reported. With three years remaining of his mandate and a large parliamentary majority, the conservative leader is well placed to meet long-standing pledges to simplify Italy's labyrinthine bureaucracy, a major drag on its economy, and speed up its snail-paced justice system. "We are convinced that we need to free Italy from the oppression of taxes, bureaucracy and the judiciary," Berlusconi told a conference of business leaders, pledging to implement the reforms before his term expires in 2013. The 73-year-old billionaire, whose Mediaset group controls three of Italy's four private TV channels, said his priority was constitutional reform to modernise state institutions and give more authority to the executive, particularly the prime minister. "One of the main objectives is to give the prime minister the powers enjoyed by his European counterparts," Berlusconi told the Confindustria association, pledging there would be wide consultation before any move to a "semi-presidential" system. Berlusconi's attempts to sideline parliament using decrees and confidence votes since winning power in 2008 have angered opposition leaders and even senior members of his centre-right coalition, such as parliamentary speaker Gianfranco Fini. -- SPA
