Monti wins second confidence vote
Source: Agencies |
November 19, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ITALIAN Premier Mario Monti yesterday won a vote of confidence overwhelmingly after warning politicians they would have to face the public if they sabotaged a sweeping package of reforms aimed at ending an acute debt crisis.
Monti won the vote by 556 to 61 after a similarly comfortable vote in the upper house on Thursday. His unelected government of technocrats is now fully empowered.
The premier, who also holds the economy portfolio, has outlined to parliament a raft of painful reforms to shore up public finances and increase competitiveness after a decade of low growth.
Monti, appointed on Wednesday to succeed Silvio Berlusconi after the discredited center-right leader lost his majority, said he intended to serve until the next scheduled election in 2013.
Politicians have been suspected of wanting to topple the technocrat government, which many of them opposed, within months.
But Monti said yesterday he was ready to serve the full term.
He denied telling supporters he could "pull the plug" whenever he wished.
He told the lower house before the vote his success in passing deep and painful reforms would depend on the support of parliament.
"I am not asking for a blind vote of confidence. We are asking for a vigilant vote of confidence," he said. "But we think that if we do a good job, then you too, when you give us a vote of confidence or withdraw it, should remember what the consequences will be for citizens' confidence in you."
The remark was a warning to squabbling politicians who have attracted public outrage for failing to take action as Italy slipped closer to an economic abyss after borrowing costs soared out of control under Berlusconi.
The politicians were apparently forced to acquiesce to an unelected government of technocrats by the power of international markets.
Monti laid out his policy priorities in a maiden speech to the upper house on Thursday in which he outlined a mix of pension and labor reforms and hinted he would re-introduce a housing tax scrapped by Berlusconi.
The former European Commissioner has won the backing of all the main parties except the pro-devolution Northern League, Berlusconi's key partner in the outgoing coalition.
However, Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom party made clear its support is conditional.
The biggest force in parliament has opposed key options in Monti's reform agenda, notably the possible levying of a wealth tax on privately-held assets.
Monti told reporters after the successful vote that he would meet the eurozone's most powerful leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, next week. He would also meet European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman van Rompuy.
Financial markets, upset by the escalating eurozone debt crisis, appeared to welcome Monti's speech on Thursday, with yields on 10-year bonds dipping below the 7 percent level seen as a critical red line.
Monti won the vote by 556 to 61 after a similarly comfortable vote in the upper house on Thursday. His unelected government of technocrats is now fully empowered.
The premier, who also holds the economy portfolio, has outlined to parliament a raft of painful reforms to shore up public finances and increase competitiveness after a decade of low growth.
Monti, appointed on Wednesday to succeed Silvio Berlusconi after the discredited center-right leader lost his majority, said he intended to serve until the next scheduled election in 2013.
Politicians have been suspected of wanting to topple the technocrat government, which many of them opposed, within months.
But Monti said yesterday he was ready to serve the full term.
He denied telling supporters he could "pull the plug" whenever he wished.
He told the lower house before the vote his success in passing deep and painful reforms would depend on the support of parliament.
"I am not asking for a blind vote of confidence. We are asking for a vigilant vote of confidence," he said. "But we think that if we do a good job, then you too, when you give us a vote of confidence or withdraw it, should remember what the consequences will be for citizens' confidence in you."
The remark was a warning to squabbling politicians who have attracted public outrage for failing to take action as Italy slipped closer to an economic abyss after borrowing costs soared out of control under Berlusconi.
The politicians were apparently forced to acquiesce to an unelected government of technocrats by the power of international markets.
Monti laid out his policy priorities in a maiden speech to the upper house on Thursday in which he outlined a mix of pension and labor reforms and hinted he would re-introduce a housing tax scrapped by Berlusconi.
The former European Commissioner has won the backing of all the main parties except the pro-devolution Northern League, Berlusconi's key partner in the outgoing coalition.
However, Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom party made clear its support is conditional.
The biggest force in parliament has opposed key options in Monti's reform agenda, notably the possible levying of a wealth tax on privately-held assets.
Monti told reporters after the successful vote that he would meet the eurozone's most powerful leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, next week. He would also meet European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman van Rompuy.
Financial markets, upset by the escalating eurozone debt crisis, appeared to welcome Monti's speech on Thursday, with yields on 10-year bonds dipping below the 7 percent level seen as a critical red line.
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