Italian Interior Minister Mr Claudio Scajola comfortably survived an opposition no-confidence motion in the Senate yesterday regarding the policing of the G8 summit in Genoa two weeks ago, when one person was killed and 231 injured during two days of street riots.
Given that the centre-right government, led by media tycoon, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, has a comfortable majority in both houses of parliament, Mr Scajola had been expected to survive yesterday's vote.
The debate prior to the vote, however, had reflected the degree of opposition concern about the allegations of police brutality in Genoa, with one senator from the Green Party, Mr Stefano Apuzzo, holding up a placard reading "Scajola - Pinochet, Why?"
During the debate, Mr Scajola for the first time appeared to admit there may have been "improper" behaviour on the part of senior police officers when speaking about the as yet unpublished results of inquiries commissioned by his ministry into the violence in Genoa. "If certain improper behaviour emerges, as it indeed appears to be emerging, then people will be severely punished," he said.
Leading daily newspapers, Corriere Della Sera and La Repubblica, both reported yesterday that a ministry report into allegations of brutality has called for senior police officers, including the Genoa police chief, Mr Giuseppe Colucci, to be sacked or removed from his current office.
Even if the opposition no-confidence motion predictably failed, the centre-left appeared to register a partial victory yesterday when the government finally agreed to set up a bicameral parliamentary inquiry into the violence at the G8.
Initially, the Prime Minister, Mr Berlusconi, had rejected such a move but, in the face of growing public concern and perhaps influenced by a call earlier this week from the state President, Mr Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, for a "full light" to be thrown on the events of Genoa, the government yesterday bowed to opposition demands for the inquiry.
The make-up of the 36-person parliamentary commission - 18 deputies and 18 senators, who begin work on Monday and will conclude in mid-September - will, as usual, reflect relative party strengths in both houses.
The inquiry's aim will be to identify the source, cause and eventual responsibility for the violence at the G8 but the inquiry will not have the full powers, including the power to subpoena witnesses, of a fully fledged parliamentary commission.