A jubilant Premier Matteo Renzi on Tuesday tweeted: "courage pays" after the Senate approved his controversial new election laws. "Reforms are moving forward," he added in the post on his Twitter account under the hashtag "#lavoltabuona".
The Senate approved the government's 'Italicum' electoral reform bill with 184 votes in favor, 66 nays and 2 abstaining. The Senate consists of 315 members plus five life Senators.
The amended bill now goes back to the Lower House for another reading. The vote came after rowdy protests from the Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) party.
More protests came from other opposition parties, including the maverick 5-Star Movement (M5S) forcing at least one suspension of debate.
Still, the government was celebrating.
"It seemed impossible a few months ago, yet the electoral law is OK even in the Senate," posted Reforms Minister Maria Elen Boschi on her Twitter feed, also using the hashtag #lavoltabuona.
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