Vote of Confidence

Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi has asked senators to allow him to re-launch his government's program "with even more fervor." Less than a week after he submitted his resignation, he addressed the upper house of parliament on Tuesday evening.

In the half-hour speech in the Senate that steered a careful course between the radical left and the centrist elements of his fragile coalition, Prodi laid out his priorities to try to muster enough support to win the confidence vote.

However, the opposition ridiculed his conciliatory stance. Center-right leader and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying that even if he got through the Senate vote, Prodi "won't last long."

The 67-year-old Prodi resigned last Wednesday after suffering an embarrassing defeat over foreign policy in the Senate, which included the government's plan to keep Italian troops in Afghanistan. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano asked him to remain in office and form a new government. Prodi's disparate center-left coalition won a general election 10 months ago by a hair's breadth.

Italy seeks dialogue on foreign policy

In his address on Tuesday, Prodi defended Italy's foreign policy and Rome's troop commitment in Afghanistan, where 1,800 Italian troops are deployed.

"The goal of Italy's presence in Afghanistan is to consolidate the young democratic institutions in the country," Prodi said. "Our soldiers in Afghanistan, like on all our missions, bring a culture of dialogue and help, not of clashes."

Prodi also said Italy is committed to maintaining an open channel of dialogue with Iran.

"It is true that the choices made by Tehran have created a very difficult situation with the international community," Prodi said. "But we must do everything that is possible to avoid this from turning into a military confrontation."

On the Middle East, Prodi said the Italian government would continue to make every effort to ensure that Israel and the Palestinians will live as two people in two states, capable of coexisting in peace and security side by side. The prime minister also stressed that his government has sought to raise its profile in Europe while maintaining good relations with Washington.

On the domestic front, Prodi pledged a reform of the electoral system, which has been blamed for contributing to political instability by giving too much influence to small parties. He also promised to help families and increase job security.

Political crisis could lead to early elections

The latest estimates showed Prodi will win the vote of confidence with 163 votes to 157, having reined in the two communist allies who toppled him last week. He is also expecting support from most of Italy's seven senators-for-life. However, Italian media reports said this support was not a certainty.

Center-left party leaders have said they are confident they will win this time after all coalition parties renewed their commitment to the government. All parties have signed a 12-point plan that the prime minister said would be "non negotiable" and would serve as the government's platform.

If Prodi wins the vote in the Senate, he faces a second vote in the lower house Chamber of Deputies at the end of the week, where he has a comfortable majority. If he loses the confidence vote, the government will have to resign, sparking a political crisis that might lead to the formation of a broad-coalition government or to early elections.