On 30 October Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced that the Italian government would withdraw Buttiglione's nomination, keeping him in his office of minister in the Italian government; however, he did not mention who would be the Italian candidate to be a member of the European Commission. "The new soft totalitarianism that is advancing on the left wants to have a state religion. It is an atheist, nihilistic religion - but it is a religion that is obligatory for all," complained Buttiglione in subsequent comments.