Berlusconi Wins Confidence Vote as Riots Erupt in Rome
This article is for subscribers only.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi survived a confidence vote as student protesters clashed with police, leaving clouds of tear gas and smoke from burning cars wafting over Rome.
Berlusconi, 74, won the motion in the Chamber of Deputies by 314 to 311 today, short of an absolute majority, Speaker Gianfranco Fini said. Fini’s defection from Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party and his call for the premier to quit prompted today’s vote. Berlusconi also carried the Senate and shares of his Mediaset SpA rose to their highest in more than three weeks.