An Italian judge has ordered Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial in April on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office, although there seemed no immediate¹ risk the scandal would force him out.

一位意大利法官要求总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼四月份出庭接受审讯，他被指控与未成年少女进行性交易以及滥用职权。但是目前看起来这则丑闻还不会很快将贝卢斯科尼赶下台。

Following weeks of scandal that have shaken his struggling center-right government, trial was set on Tuesday to start in a criminal court in Milan on April 6, according to a statement from the office of the city's chief judge.

Berlusconi is not obliged to（不得不） appear in person before the panel of three judges on that day, nor is there any legal obstacle to his continuing to hold office throughout any trial proceedings², which could take years before any conviction.

Throughout several other legal cases, the 74-year-old premier³ has kept the loyalty⁴ of lieutenants⁵ in his own party, which he set up after making his fortune in business. There has been no open push from his own allies for him to stand down.

"We did not expect anything different," Piero Longo, one of Berlusconi's lawyers who sits in parliament for the ruling PDL party, told reporters after the decision was announced.

Yet the decision is perhaps the most serious political blow so far to Berlusconi, who has faced mounting public criticism as he tries to shore up（支持，加固） a precarious⁶（危险的） majority in parliament.

A survey this week in the left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper showed that almost 50 percent of Italians believe the accusations⁷（控告，谴责） against him are true, although as many believe that even if he is guilty, he will not be punished.

"He should resign because this situation has become unbearable," said Pierluigi Bersani, head of the opposition⁸ Democratic Party.

But Justice Minister Angelino Alfano retorted: "What happened to someone being presumed innocent?"