Italy's Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday he would veto Air France-KLM's deal to buy Alitalia if he won April's election and promised an imminent Italian counter-bid, despite doubts from political rivals.
The comments by the media tycoon, ahead in polls to become Italy's next prime minister, are the latest blow to Air France-KLM's planned takeover, which has become a hot issue in election campaigning ahead of the April 13-14 vote.
The deal is already on shaky ground due to opposition from Alitalia's unions and Milan's airport operator, and the Franco-Dutch carrier has said it will ditch the deal without support from Italy's next government.
"The response to Air France-KLM that the next prime minister will give will be a dry and full 'no'. Not because he's against France, but because he's against the conditions received," Berlusconi said, joking that his new electoral slogan would be "Back on your feet, Alitalia!"
On the campaign trail, Berlusconi surprised Italians by declaring that an Italian consortium led by local carrier Air One would rescue Alitalia from the "arrogant and unacceptable" French offer.
Political rivals have accused Berlusconi of bluffing to drum up nationalist sentiment and say his rhetoric risks scaring off Air France-KLM and taking Alitalia ever closer to bankruptcy.
"I wouldn't like us to end up finding ourselves in a situation in which Air France-KLM gets out and no-one else then comes forward," said Emma Bonino, a minister in the outgoing Italian government, which has approved the French deal. "Because that way our national airline will head to certain bankruptcy."
Air One, whose initial offer for Alitalia was rejected by Italy's outgoing government, said on Friday it could not make a new bid "in the dark" and needed at least three weeks to study Alitalia's accounts before deciding.
It said it was up to the Italian government, which holds a 49.9 percent stake in the carrier, to decide whether it wanted to invite new offers.
Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, which backed Air One's earlier bid, said it was not working on an Alitalia offer, and a new bid would be impossible without inspecting its books.
Berlusconi, in between campaign appearances, on Friday first said the promised consortium bid would arrive in a few days. A few hours later, he told Italian television that the consortium would make its offer in three or four weeks.
"By now I've committed myself, so it will be done," Berlusconi told reporters, saying banks were ready to support the deal, though he did not name any. He earlier said his sons might be willing to join the rival bid.
Italy's economy minister, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, who is overseeing the sale, has said that any other offer for the ailing carrier -- which spent more than a year on the block unsuccessfully hunting for a buyer -- should come immediately.
Alitalia has repeatedly warned it has only months left before its cash runs out and needs a new owner to pump in money by mid-year to keep flying.
The European Union has barred further state aid to the airline, meaning the government can no longer bail it out as it has done in the past, and many analysts believe Alitalia's only alternative to Air France-KLM is bankruptcy.
Alitalia's unions, angry at plans to cut the workforce, continue talks with the carriers on Tuesday. Air France-KLM has refused to extend a March 31 deadline to resolve all obstacles to the deal, including union disapproval.
