ROME - Prime Minister Enrico Letta won a parliamentary vote of confidence in the Senate Wednesday after Silvio Berlusconi dropped plans to topple the coalition Government. The vote was called in response to the resignation of five ministers from Silvio Berlusconi's People of Liberty (PdL) party on Saturday.

 

 After meeting with President Napolitano Sunday night, Prime Minister Letta made a statement on television emphasizing that the country faces a "turning point."

 

  He stated that the "very complicated and complex situation" needed a rapid response from parliament, and so he arranged to ask the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for governmental support until 2015.

 Letta was sure to survive the Chamber of Deputies vote after Berlusconi's volte face, which came after a number of members of his party indicated they would rebel and vote for the Government.