Italy PM Conte comfortably wins lower house confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte faces a confidence vote at the lower house of parliament after former PM Matteo Renzi pulled his party out of government, in Rome, Italy, January 18, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/Pool

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte won a crucial confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday, hanging on to power after a junior partner quit his coalition last week and opened a political crisis amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Had he lost the vote, Conte would have been forced to resign.