ROME, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The center-right government led by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cleared its final institutional hurdle Thursday when it won a vote of confidence in the Senate.

    In the vote, 173 senators backed the new government, 133 were against and one abstained.

    Berlusconi's conservative administration won a Lower House confidence vote Wednesday.

    Berlusconi is expected to meet Friday with the leader of the center-left opposition, ex-Rome mayor Walter Veltroni, to discuss common ground on institutional, economic and political reforms.

    Berlusconi went before the parliament Tuesday to seek its confidence for his new center-right government and stressed the need for dialogue with the opposition in order to achieve needed reforms.

    In illustrating his government's program, Berlusconi said Italy had "no time to lose" in adopting institutional and economic reforms.

    He said Italians sent a clear message to its political class in last month's elections that they wanted both the government and the opposition "to do their jobs" in the interests of the nation.