ROME, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi won on Thursday a vote of confidence from the Senate, a necessary step before the government can fully assume power.

Berlusconi's conservative People of Freedom party (PDL) won the general election in mid-April.

In the senate, 173 votes were cast in support of the government, 137 against, and two senators abstained.

A similar procedure was held on Wednesday in the lower house, where 335 votes were cast in support of the Berlusconi government, and 275 against.

Berlusconi, 71, controls most of Italy's media through his company Mediaset. His PDL party is allied to controversial Umberto Bossi's Northern League party, which ran on an anti-immigration ticket at the election.