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Italian Premier Romano Prodi's government survived a confidence vote, but with Communists in his coalition announcing they won't back him on Afghanistan, he faced the prospect of having to depend on Silvio Berlusconi's conservative opposition bloc to keep Italy's troops in the NATO mission.

After squeaking by in the Senate confidence vote Wednesday night, Prodi's center-left coalition must submit to a separate confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies, where lawmakers began debate Thursday morning. With a comfortable majority in the lower Chamber, Prodi is certain to win the confidence vote there, scheduled for today.

An opinion poll for Milan daily Corriere della Sera found that many Italians believe Prodi's fractious coalition, which took office in May, will only last several more months.

The staunchly pro-US Berlusconi pledged Thursday to come to Prodi's rescue on funding for the Afghan mission, which risked defeat in the Senate without votes from outside the government coalition.

Berlusconi said his center-right forces would vote to continue funding for Italy's 1,800 troops in Afghanistan "because the country must be serious and have a clear, loyal policy toward its allies."

Objections by Communists and Greens to the Afghan mission led to a key foreign policy defeat in the Senate, prompting Prodi to resign and forcing the confidence votes to allow his government to stay in office.

The 162-157 victory in the Senate inspired Justice Minister Clemente Mastella to compare the government to the Tower of Pisa. "It leans but it doesn't fall," said Mastella, who himself has differed at times with coalition allies.

In recent weeks, as squabbling increased in the government, the Christian Democrat walked out of a Cabinet meeting rather than vote in favor of a proposed law to give legal rights to unmarried couples, including homosexuals. The measure will now be taken up by Parliament.

Keep lid on dissent

Seeking to keep the lid on dissent in his coalition, Prodi insisted as a condition for continuing that ministers who don't agree with him ultimately leave him the final word no small feat for a country where balking by tiny parties has often brought down governments.

"The coalition has reached a strong, cohesive agreement," Prodi told the Senate shortly before the confidence vote began. "We have the firm intention of moving forward."

Prodi narrowly defeated Berlusconi in April elections, ousting the conservatives after five years in office. Opinion polls have shown Prodi's forces slumping in popularity in recent weeks, with Berlusconi's bloc keen on regaining power.

Berlusconi ruled out Thursday that he might soon turn over the reins of the conservative bloc to another center-right leader. The leader of a pro-Vatican party in the coalition, Pier Ferdinando Casini, has been saying it might be time for new leadership, amid suggestions he would be willing to take up the mantle.

(China Daily via agencies March 2, 2007)