ROME – Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi reaped the benefits Wednesday of a conciliatory approach to dissent within his multi-party coalition, surviving a crucial confidence vote in the Senate to hold onto power.
Prodi won the vote in the Senate by 162 votes to 157, relying on the votes of an independent, an opposition centrist and four of Italy’s seven unelected senators-for-life for victory. After a humiliating defeat in a Senate foreign policy vote last week, Prodi promptly offered to resign, then cajoled his coalition partners into line, securing their commitment to a pact giving him “unitary authority.”Prodi, 67, was elected by a hairs’ breadth nine months ago promising to root out political sleaze following the unprecedented full five-year tenure of his tainted predecessor Silvio Berlusconi.He earned praise for his ability to pull together more than a half-dozen parties into a multi-hued coalition, which stretches from communists to moderate Catholics.But that same diversity dragged him down.Nampa-AFPAfter a humiliating defeat in a Senate foreign policy vote last week, Prodi promptly offered to resign, then cajoled his coalition partners into line, securing their commitment to a pact giving him “unitary authority.”Prodi, 67, was elected by a hairs’ breadth nine months ago promising to root out political sleaze following the unprecedented full five-year tenure of his tainted predecessor Silvio Berlusconi.He earned praise for his ability to pull together more than a half-dozen parties into a multi-hued coalition, which stretches from communists to moderate Catholics.But that same diversity dragged him down.Nampa-AFP
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