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)
