Romano Prodi, who briefly resigned as premier last week, will face a confidence vote in the Senate on Wednesday evening, senate officials said Monday.

The vote would be preceded by a speech from the center-left premier, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, local media reported.

The confidence vote will also take place in the House on Friday at midday.

Prodi quit last Wednesday after losing an important vote in the Senate on the government's foreign policy, which included the government's plan to keep troops in Afghanistan.

President Giorgio Napolitano rejected the resignation on Saturday after two days of consultations with political leaders, and instead asked Prodi to test his majority via confidence votes in the House and Senate.

The House vote will present no problems for Prodi since he enjoys a solid majority there but the Senate ballot is likely to be another knife-edge affair.

Prodi holds only one more senate seat than the Silvio Berlusconi-led opposition.

The nine parties in his alliance have renewed their pledge of loyalty, accepting a new 12-point "non-negotiable" program drawn up by Prodi, but there are still fears that individual senators could go their own way.

The premier can, however, count on the extra support of a majority of the chamber's seven life senators, the local reports said.

Political analysts expect Prodi to win the confidence vote but say he could still remain at the mercy of his own senators in the long run, particularly over foreign policy.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2007)