Matteo Renzi Wins Confidence Vote for His Coalition Government

Matteo Renzi, Italy’s newly sworn-in Prime Minister, has won the backing of the upper house of parliament for his new coalition government after he promised radical reforms to his economically struggling country.

Renzi, known for his ambition and rhetorical flair, won the crucial confidence vote for his coalition government after a long session of the Italian senate on Monday that lasted more than 10 hours. Italy’s youngest ever premier proposed reforms to the country’s slow moving justice system including a pledge to boost the country’s foreign investment, reduction in tax, changes in election law and investment in jobs to counter the struggling economy. The Democratic Party leader also said he wanted to abolish the upper house of Parliament as a law-making body.

Renzi gained the vote of confidence in the Senate by 169 votes in favour to 139 against. He still needs to win a second confidence vote later on Tuesday in the lower house, where his centre-left Democratic Party holds a strong majority. The 39 year old told the senators that he wanted to start reforms to the upper house as early as next month. His sixteen member government in which half the ministers are women, has an average age of under 48, the youngest in modern Italian history.

Infoeditor