Silvio Berlusconi
© UnknownFormer Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi
An Italian Senate committee has approved a motion to expel former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, from the parliament over a tax fraud conviction.

The senators voted on Friday to strip Berlusconi of his parliamentary seat after debates were held at the Senate Palace in Rome.
The head of the committee, Dario Stefano, said the committee had "decided by a majority to propose to the Senate assembly to debate invalidating the election of Senator Berlusconi."
The committee's decision must be also ratified by a full Senate chamber vote, which is planned to be held later in the month.

This was the second blow to Berlusconi in just a few days, as he was forced to abandon his bid to topple Prime Minister Enrico Letta on October 2 after more than 40 of his lawmakers said they would defy him and instead vote in support of the coalition government.

Italy's Supreme Court convicted Berlusconi on August 1 of tax evasion in a final ruling, and sentenced him to one year of community service or house arrest, making it the first definitive conviction against him after dozens of trials in almost 20 years of political career.

The former prime minister is currently appealing other convictions against him, including solicitation of an underage prostitute, abuse of office and leaking a confidential police wiretap to damage a political rival. Furthermore, Berlusconi is under investigation for bribing a senator to join his PDL party.

Berlusconi, who served as Italy's prime minister from 1994 to 2011, resigned in November 2011, after coming under fire for mishandling the Italian economy.