By IANS,
Rome : Italy’s newly appointed Prime Minister Mario Monti and his government won the confidence vote in the upper house of parliament here Thursday.
The Senate backed the new cabinet with a solid majority of 281votes in favour and 25 in opposition, Xinhua reported Friday.
The vote in the lower house of parliament, or the Chamber of Deputies, is scheduled for Friday.
In his 50-minute debut address to the Senate as the new Italian premier — interrupted by 17 rounds of warm applause — Monti outlined his programme, which he said will be focused on three guidelines for budget rigor, economic growth and equity.
The urgent austerity measures requested by the European Union (EU) must be seen as the “difficult but necessary steps” to avoid a dramatic debt-driven financial crisis, Monti said.