Mr Monti took over as head of a technical government last November, after ruling centre right Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stepped down. His first measures were the introduction of tax hikes and spending cuts in a bid to tackle the country's enormous public debt.

Initially Mr Berlusconi and his People of Freedom Party as well as the centre left opposition gave him a hesitant backing but now there is growing unease from many about whether Mr Monti can continue to steer the country until next year's scheduled general election.

The former premier also stressed that "we won't commit ourselves to voting for measures we don't agree with" which could make it tough for Mr Monti's government to press ahead with its programme of structural economic reforms designed to revive the recession-hit Italian economy, including unpopular labour-market measures.