Italy PM Conte wins crucial Senate vote to stay in power
BBC
20th January, 2021 10:40:18
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has won a crucial vote to stay in power - days after former PM Matteo Renzi pulled his party out of the coalition.
The vote in the Senate - 156-140, with 16 abstentions - means, however, that Mr Conte does not have an absolute majority in the upper chamber.
Opposition parties say they plan to ask President Sergio Mattarella to intervene to force him to resign.
Mr Conte, a law professor, has led a centrist coalition since 2018.
The main parties in his coalition are the anti-establishment Five Star (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).