Italy's Prodi wins confidence vote in senate

ROME - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi won a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday over a package of technical measures, ensuring the survival of his six-week-old government.

The upper house, or Senate, voted 160-1 in favour of the bill to extend a series of parliamentary measures and amend rules for awarding public contracts.

Prodi said the confidence vote was needed to speed the package of measures through parliament and avoid dozens of amendments.

Under a confidence vote, a bill is adopted without amendments, but if the government loses it has to resign.

Prodi's centre-right opponents said the new prime minister had to resort to the do-or-die vote because otherwise splits would have appeared in his government, jeopardising passage of the measures in the Senate where he has only a 2-vote majority.

- REUTERS