Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi won a confidence vote in the Senate tonight, allowing him to stay on in office.
Mr Prodi won with 162 votes for and 157 against.
He resigned last week after nine months in office over a foreign policy revolt in the Senate. He won a second chance from President Giorgio Napolitano after the fear of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's return brought coalition rebels back into line.
The vote reconfirms Mr Prodi as prime minister at the head of a centre-left coalition.
But his fragile position was illustrated by his reliance on lifetime senators like 97-year-old Nobel scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini.
She rushed home today from abroad to vote as one of seven unelected life senators. The value of their vote is questioned by the opposition, who say Mr Prodi should quit if he cannot muster a strong elected majority - by no means certain.
"Clearly if there is no political majority and they depend on lifetime senators to win the confidence vote, the head of state should have something to say," said Senator Giuseppe Pisanu of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
A new poll suggested only four in 10 Italians want Mr Prodi to stay on. Most favour a non-partisan technical government or snap elections, showed the poll in Corriere della Seradaily.
Thirty-nine per cent said Mr Prodi would last only a couple of months and 22 per cent gave him one to two
years - but not a complete five-year term.