Italian PM Berlusconi wins crucial confidence vote in Parliament

[News_Editor]

Italian PM Berlusconi wins crucial confidence vote in Parliament

2011-06-22 08:34:31 GMT+7 (ICT)

ROME (BNO NEWS) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday won a crucial confidence vote in Parliament after a series of setbacks in the nationwide referendums and local elections in Milan and Naples, the ANSA news agency reported.

Berlusconi's center-right government won the Lower House vote with a margin of 24 votes (317 to 293) and two abstentions. The victory was mostly due to the backing from the Northern League coalition which recently threatened to withdraw its support.

"Another government will be a disaster not for Berlusconi, not for the majority but for Italy, its young people and the country's financial security," said the Italian Premier as he addressed the Senate after winning the vote.

However, center-left opposition Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani said that the many confidence votes have weakened Berlusconi's government and its future remained fragile.

Last week, Bersani called for the resignation of the Premier after a nationwide referendum rejected four government proposals. Eligible voters did not approve two proposals on the privatization of water, one to resume Italy's nuclear program, and the other for allowing Berlusconi to miss his trial hearings.

The approval for the controversial PM fell to a new low of 29 percent in a June poll. In addition to the four cases against him, Berlusconi is facing pressure from the Northern League which demanded tax cuts, an end to military action in Libya and other policy changes in an apparent exchange for Tuesday's support.

In addition, the Northern League called for transferring four government ministries from Rome to the north of Italy where the League is the strongest. The Democratic Party opposed the call and the issue will be discussed in the Parliament by Berlusconi on Wednesday.

The 74-year-old prime minister has said that he will not seek reelection in 2013 after his current term runs out. He is currently involved in four criminal cases against him, three fraud cases and one of prostitution. Despite the legal issues, Berlusconi vowed to stay as PM until the end of his term in office.

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