2007年VOA标准英语-Italian Government Survives Confidence Vote by

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
28 February 2007

Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi won a confidence vote in the Senate on Wednesday, exactly one week after he submitted his resignation. Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome for VOA that the vote ensured the survival of his nine-month-old center-left government, at least for the moment.

Senate speaker Franco Marini read out the result of the much-waited confidence vote. He said there were 320 senators who were present in the upper house for the vote. The majority needed was 160 and the result of the vote was 162 votes in favor and 157 against.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi after winning a confidence vote in the Senate

The government of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi survived the vote, which had been in question right until the very end. Prodi resigned last week after a defeat in the Senate on the government's foreign policy.

Following consultations¹ with the country's party leaders, the Italian president had asked Mr. Prodi to stay on and put his Cabinet to new confidence votes in parliament. On Friday, the prime minister will submit his nine-month government to a vote in the lower house, where he has a comfortable majority.

Pointing to Mr. Prodi's two vote margin² of victory in the Senate, many opposition³ leaders say the government will not be able to stay afloat for long.

Electoral law in Italy favors broad coalitions⁵, such as Mr. Prodi's bickering⁶ Catholic-to-communist alliance, rather than strong majorities. The law is widely blamed for the country's political instability, which has given Italy 61 governments since World War II. Mr. Prodi has promised electoral reform if confirmed in his job.

Mr. Prodi said before the vote that there was general agreement that the electoral law must be changed - that an electoral law must be found that would guarantee governance in Italy.

The government's five-year mandate⁷ expires in 2011 but its future stability, with such a tiny majority in the Senate, is doubtful.

In a sign of the continuing difficulties facing Mr. Prodi, some coalition⁴ senators said Wednesday that while they supported the government in the confidence vote, they continued to be opposed to the country's military presence in Afghanistan and would vote against an upcoming measure to refinance the mission there.

1 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

6 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。