Senate OKs confidence vote

(ANSA) - Rome, February 26 - The Senate on Thursday approved a government request for a confidence vote on its so-called 'milleproroghe' decree, making it into law.
    The motion passed in the 315-member Senate with 156 in favor, 78 against and one abstaining.
    The 'milleproroghe' traditionally follows the annual budget and contains a number of measures that need to be passed before the end of the year. The opposition, regionalist Northern League and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) earlier said they would not participate in the vote.
    "This decree more than any other, illustrates how the government mismanages public wealth," League Senator Paolo Tosato said.
    "The government should remember that it is called the executive and that it should follow our (parliament's) will," said M5S Senator Andrea Cioffi.
    The government has reduced Senators to button-pushing "octoplasms", Cioffi said.