ITALY: New Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti easily wins confidence vote in Senate

Record ID: 327648

  • Title: ITALY: New Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti easily wins confidence vote in Senate
  • Date: 18th November 2011
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (NOVEMBER 17, 2011) (REUTERS) INTERIOR OF SENATE ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MARIO MONTI SEATED IN SENATE SENATOR HOLDING PAPER WITH PHOTOS OF MONTI'S NEW MINISTERS SPEAKER ANNOUNCING START OF VOTING VOTING BEGINNING SENATOR PASSING MONTI AFTER VOTING VOTING IN PROGRESS SENATORS' VOTES BEING ANNOUNCED VOTING IN PROGRESS / MONTI VOTING IN PROGRESS SENATOR VOTING / SENATORS LOOKING ON VARIOUS OF VOTES BEING COUNTED PHOTOGRAPHERS (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SPEAKER OF THE UPPER HOUSE, RENATO SCHIFANI, SAYING: "Senators in favour 281, senators against 25, senators abstaining zero. The senate approves." SENATORS APPLAUDING MONTI BEING CONGRATULATED EXTERIOR OF SENATE CROWDS LINED UP OUTSIDE SENATE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) NEW MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, ANDREA RICCARDI, SAYING: "We don't know yet. We are pleased with the Senate and tomorrow we will see what happens at the Parliament." PEOPLE LEAVING SENATE BUILDING GUARD OUTSIDE SENATE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SENATOR FILIPPO BUBBICO OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PD) SAYING: "It seems to me that Monti has fulfilled what President Napolitano asked him and enjoys wide parliamentary support and can manage this very complicated phase our country is going through and with the support of the parliament will be able to determine the conditions under which this serious crisis can be overcome." POLICE OUTSIDE SENATE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SENATOR MASSIMO GARAVAGLIA OF THE NORTHERN LEAGUE SAYING: "In a normal democracy when a government collapses, you vote. Secondly, we expect very tough measures, we are waiting so see what the contents will be but we understand that the ICI, a type of a property tax will be reintroduced, and pensions will be touched. But even this is not enough, with this will we'll reach 25 billion which might be enough for a balanced budget but at least another 20 billion will still be needed to cover the deficit. Sincerely, we are worried." FLAGS OUTSIDE WINDOWS OF SENATE (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SENATOR VINCENZO VITA OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PD) SAYING: "It is not a majority of national unity. It is a government of emergency which is shown support with strong confidence and then, naturally, the parliament will do its part, it is autonomous of the projects it is presented with and each and everyone inside holds a vote." PEOPLE OUTSIDE SENATE
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy, Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3R8VXM4NMMGVVNUVHXRL59JOP
  • Story Text: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti comfortably won a vote of confidence in his new government on Thursday (November 17) after promising rigour and fairness in painful reforms to dig the country out of a financial crisis that threatens the entire euro zone.
    Outlining his programme earlier in the day, Monti, 68, told the Senate that the survival of the euro partly depended on Italy embarking on radical reforms within weeks.
    Monti won the vote in the Senate by 281 votes to 25, with only the pro-devolution Northern League voting against him.
    He faces another confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, at around 1300 GMT on Friday (November 18) which he is also expected to win comfortably, after which he will be fully empowered.
    "We don't know yet. We are pleased with the Senate and tomorrow we will see what happens at the Parliament," Monti's new Minister of International Cooperation Andrea Riccardi told Reuters after the vote.
    Monti, who was sworn in on Wednesday (November 16) at the head of a technocrat government after a rushed transition from discredited ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, said Italy risked having its fate decided by other countries if it did not act.
    The economist is racing to try to end a collapse in market confidence that has pushed Rome's borrowing costs to critical levels.
    "It seems to me that Monti has fulfilled what President Napolitano asked him and enjoys wide parliamentary support and can manage this very complicated phase our country is going through and with the support of the parliament will be able to determine the conditions under which this serious crisis can be overcome," senator Filippo Bubbico of the Democratic Party said after the vote.
    The new premier said he would consider more reforms after implementing pledges made to the EU but never passed by Berlusconi.
    Monti said action to vanquish an emergency that has put the euro zone's third largest economy at the centre of its expanding debt crisis would focus equally on cutting a huge public debt and boosting chronically weak growth.
    He pledged to target widespread tax evasion, sub-standard education and training and Italy's creaking welfare system, as well as reforming a labour market that gives excessive protection to some workers at the expense of others, most of them young.
    Monti said he would reform the pension system to remove unfair disparities and also signalled the government would re-introduce a tax on first homes that was abolished by Berlusconi.
    Monti will need strong parliamentary support for radical reforms that have been promised by most of the parties, but could evaporate as the measures become more unpopular.
    "In a normal democracy when a government collapses, you vote. Secondly, we expect very tough measures, we are waiting so see what the contents will be but we understand that the ICI, a type of a property tax will be reintroduced, and pensions will be touched. But even this is not enough, with this will we'll reach 25 billion which might be enough for a balanced budget but at least another 20 billion will still be needed to cover the deficit. Sincerely, we are worried," said Senator Massimo Garavaglia of the Northern League outside the Senate.
    "It is not a majority of national unity. It is a government of emergency which is shown support with strong confidence and then, naturally, the parliament will do its part, it is autonomous of the projects it is presented with and each and everyone inside holds a vote," added Senator Vicenzo Vita.
    With the euro zone debt crisis spreading wider by the day, Monti's policies are unlikely to be enough on their own to rebuild shattered market confidence.
    But they will be vital to restoring credibility with international partners who had long lost patience with the repeatedly unfulfilled promises of Monti's flamboyant predecessor Berlusconi.
    The uphill task Monti faces was underlined by the continued pressure on Italian borrowing costs.
    Yields on 10-year benchmark bonds fell after Monti's speech but still hovered around 7 percent, near the levels that forced Greece and Ireland to seek an international bailout.
    Italy's 1.8 trillion euro public debt would overwhelm the euro zone's current financial defences.
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