Two journalists close to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi...current Italian prime minister, known for his plain (for a European politician) speaking and his liking for hookers a third his age or less...
, Giuliano Ferrara, editor of the Foglio newspaper and a former minister, and Franco Bechis, vice-director of the pro-Berlusconi Libero newspaper, said he could resign as early as Monday.
Giuliano Ferrara said on its website: "That Silvio Berlusconi is about to resign is clear. It is a question of hours, some say of minutes," while Bechis said on twitter that Berlusconi would resign on Monday night or Tuesday morning.
The embattled prime minister returned from the Group of 20 summit in Cannes on Friday to face defections in his party amid growing unease about his handling of the economic crisis, and on Monday was seeking to win back party rebels and the support of wavering MPs after a key minister questioned whether he still had a majority.
Berlusconi held late night talks with key allies cabinet undersecretary Gianni Letti and secretary of his People of Freedom party (PdL) Angelino Alfano on Sunday amid speculation that the opposition would provoke a confidence vote in parliament to bring down the government on Tuesday.
Two PdL deputies, Alessio Bonciani and Ida D'Ippolito, announced their decision to leave the party on Thursday as the government came under increasing pressure from the International Monetary Fund and international leaders to carry out its pledged economic reforms.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni raised further doubts about the prime minister's future on Sunday after MP Gabriella Carlucci abandoned Berlusconi's party.
"The latest news leads me to think that the majority no longer exists," Maroni, a member of the Northern League, said on a TV talk show.
"In a democracy you win and you lose".