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)
