MILAN, Italy — A new trial on corruption charges against a former premier, Silvio Berlusconi, opened yesterday, just as the opposition leader is seeking to capitalize on weaknesses in the governing coalition to get back into power.

The trial — one in a series that Mr. Berlusconi has faced for his business dealings in Milan — alleges that in 1997, he ordered the payment of at least $600,000 to his codefendant, British lawyer David Mills, in exchange for the lawyer’s false testimony in two trials against Mr. Berlusconi in the 1990s.

Both Messrs. Berlusconi and Mills — the estranged husband of Britain’s culture secretary, Tessa Jowell — deny the allegations.

“Berlusconi has nothing to fear from this trial because there is no evidence,” said defense lawyer Nicolo Ghedini. “The only risk is to waste time.”

In Italy, defendants are not required to appear at their trials and neither man was at the session, which was dedicated to procedural matters. If convicted, Messrs. Mills and Berlusconi could be sentenced to between three and eight years in prison, according to prosecutors.

The charge is not the most serious that Mr. Berlusconi has faced during years of legal challenges. But it comes at a time when he is trying to present his conservative forces as a viable alternative to Prime Minister Prodi’s fractious coalition, which just narrowly survived a crisis that could have led to fresh elections.

Emboldened by polls showing that the conservatives are leading in popularity, Mr. Berlusconi repeatedly called for early elections during and after the recent crisis. However, a new vote — which would be well ahead of its 2011 schedule — appears unlikely at the moment.