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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/berlusconi-wins-confidence-votes.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi won back-to-back votes of confidence in parliament (AP)" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/min-berlusconi-wins-confidence-votes.jpg" alt="Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi won back-to-back votes of confidence in parliament (AP)"/></a></p>
<p>Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has won back-to-back votes of confidence in his country&#8217;s parliament &#8211; but he was left with a wafer-thin majority that will make it hard for him to govern effectively.</p>
<p>In the second and most dramatic of the votes, he survived a no-confidence motion in the lower house by just three votes.</p>
<p>The tense session was briefly interrupted as MPs pushed and shoved each other, while outside parliament protesters hurling fireworks, eggs and paint scuffled with police.</p>
<p>Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Berlusconi had secured a more comfortable victory in a confidence vote at the Senate.</p>
<p>The votes were called following a spate of sex scandals and a break-up with one-time close ally Gianfranco Fini, who had urged Mr Berlusconi to resign and had hoped to bring him down through the no-confidence motion.</p>
<p>The outcome marked a victory for Mr Berlusconi over the man who had become his most bitter rival. By contrast, it dealt a blow to Mr Fini&#8217;s ambitions to replace him as conservative leader, at least in the short term.</p>
<p>Ironically, it was Mr Fini in his capacity as speaker of the lower house who announced the result: 314-311 in favour of the government. Applause broke out and Mr Fini quickly ended the session without comment.</p>
<p>However, the political future remains uncertain as Mr Berlusconi can no longer count on a solid majority in parliament. His victory was obtained thanks to the votes of a handful of swing MPs who changed their minds at the last minute.</p>
<p>Pierluigi Bersani, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, said during the debate right before the vote that even if Mr Berlusconi won, it would only be a &#8220;Pyrrhic victory&#8221;.</p>
<p>The 74-year-old has been weakened by the break-up with Mr Fini, allegations he partied with prostitutes and long-standing criticism that he has used his three terms as premier to pass laws to help shield him from his legal troubles.</p>
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