Italy's new government wins 1st of 2 confidence votes

ROME — Premier Paolo Gentiloni has won a vote of confidence from the Italian Parliament's lower chamber for his new government, overcoming opposition outrage that his cabinet and agenda essentially mirror those of his humiliated predecessor.

The chamber voted 368-105 on yesterday night to back Gentiloni and his Cabinet.

Opposition lawmakers from the anti-European Union Northern League and the populist 5-Star Movement had vowed to abstain from the vote to protest Gentiloni's "photocopied" Cabinet.

Opposition politicians say that by retaining so many ministers from ex-Premier Matteo Renzi's cabinet, Gentiloni ignored the results of the Dec. 4 referendum in which Italians overwhelmingly rejected Renzi and his reforms.

The Senate is expected to vote on a confidence motion Wednesday.