Friday, October 14, 2011
Italy government wins confidence vote
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won a crucial vote of confidence, giving his struggling centre-right government a new, but probably short, lease of life.
Berlusconi, who said before the vote that the country would be thrown into economic and social catastrophe if his government collapsed now, won the vote 316 for and 301 against.
The result was in doubt until the last minute and even some centre-right members expressed uncertainty and showed nervousness before the vote on whether the government would pull through.
The situation was so tense that some in the centre-right went into last-minute horse-trading meetings with Berlusconi, who is trying to contain a rebellion in his coalition.
There was even doubt until the last minute if the quorum making the vote valid existed since most of the opposition boycotted the first round of the vote.
One coalition parliamentarian, Francesco Nucara, told the chamber he was voting to save the government for the good of the country but openly expressed dissent with the way
Berlusconi was running the centre-right and his choice of ministers.
"You have put some people in your government who would not be worthy to be doorkeepers in some of your companies," Nucara said in his address before the vote.
The prime minister's administration has been plagued by scandals, economic stagnation and intense pressure from financial markets.
Berlusconi was forced to call the vote after his divided and undisciplined coalition suffered a major embarrassment when it failed to pass a routine budget provision on Tuesday.
The prime minister was holding a cabinet meeting immediately after the vote to re-present the budget measure defeated on Tuesday, a result that Berlusconi wrote off as just an
"accident" because some parliamentarians arrived late.
Berlusconi, who said before the vote that the country would be thrown into economic and social catastrophe if his government collapsed now, won the vote 316 for and 301 against.
The result was in doubt until the last minute and even some centre-right members expressed uncertainty and showed nervousness before the vote on whether the government would pull through.
The situation was so tense that some in the centre-right went into last-minute horse-trading meetings with Berlusconi, who is trying to contain a rebellion in his coalition.
There was even doubt until the last minute if the quorum making the vote valid existed since most of the opposition boycotted the first round of the vote.
One coalition parliamentarian, Francesco Nucara, told the chamber he was voting to save the government for the good of the country but openly expressed dissent with the way
Berlusconi was running the centre-right and his choice of ministers.
"You have put some people in your government who would not be worthy to be doorkeepers in some of your companies," Nucara said in his address before the vote.
The prime minister's administration has been plagued by scandals, economic stagnation and intense pressure from financial markets.
Berlusconi was forced to call the vote after his divided and undisciplined coalition suffered a major embarrassment when it failed to pass a routine budget provision on Tuesday.
The prime minister was holding a cabinet meeting immediately after the vote to re-present the budget measure defeated on Tuesday, a result that Berlusconi wrote off as just an
"accident" because some parliamentarians arrived late.
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